The Civilized Wild
by All Hail King Scar
Summary: The Lion King... and Zootopia. Two universes filled with animals, yet animals of a very different kind, two very different styles of living... and eating. But when one kind threatens the other, it puts everyone in danger. Can Nick and Judy survive an encounter with the wild in the very middle of civilization?
1. Chapter 1

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **But don't worry, this will be just as good as all of my other stories. Which is to say, it's going to be awesome. Trust me, this isn't going to be like most crossovers are, that only seem to focus on the reactions of the characters meeting each other.**

 **And now, with my stamp of quality sealed upon this story….**

 **Here we go.**

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Scar's POV

"Simba, Simba, please have _mercy_ , I beg you!" Whimpered Scar, taking a step back from the furious lion in front of him.

"You don't deserve to live." Growled Simba, advancing toward the traitorous lion. Scar's eyes widened, and he took another fearful step back.

"But Simba! I.. am… uh…. _Family_!" Managed Scar, his breathing picking up. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening! Simba was here, somehow, _somehow_ , he survived the hyenas all those years ago! And now he was back, growling at him with his teeth bared! Of all the rotten things that could have happened, how could have this happened!

"It's the hyenas who are the real enemy!" Gargled Scar, seeing Simba's unwavering eyes. "It was their fault, it was their idea!"

"Why should I believe you?" Snarled Simba, the fire reflecting in his eyes. "Everything you ever told me was a lie….."

"What are you going to do?" Asked Scar, fighting to regain his composure. "You wouldn't kill your own uncle…."

"No Scar." Replied Simba, growling through his teeth. "I'm not like you."

Oh, oh yes. Weakness, there was weakness! He could use this, he had to use this…. come on, think of something….

"Oh Simba, thank you." He said quickly. "You are truly noble. I'll make it up to you, I promise. How can I, ah, prove myself to you? Tell me; I mean, anything."

That foolish lion was just as stupid as his father had been. Weak and soft, able only to think with their muscles and not their brains like a real lion. Simba would pardon him, and he would survive. That's all he needed to do, really. Survive. And perhaps it would take a few months, perhaps years, but he would depose of Simba eventually, twist the lionesses mind's to think him the rightful king again, and catapult himself back to his position as king, a position he would have inherited anyways if it hadn't been for his oaf of a brother.

"Run." Said Simba, his voice low with anger. "Run away Scar. And never return."

Scar's eyes widened at his angry proclamation, and he slunk back a little bit.

"Ah…. yes…." He managed, taking a step away from the red lion, rage simmering behind his eyes. "Of course…" How dare Simba speak to him with the same words he'd spoken to Simba all those years ago! How dare he!"

"Your Majesty!" He snarled, hooking a burning branch in his claws and hurling it at Simba. Simba cried out, jumping backwards from the attack. Scar lept forward, his claws reaching for the pathetic lion's neck...

But Simba recovered faster than Scar had expected. With a mighty roar, he raised his paw and lashed back at the black lion, connecting with a frightful blow. Scar fell to the ground and now Simba jumped at him, claws out in fury.

Rolling away, Scar avoided the attack and quickly got up, his plan for victory failing before his eyes. Simba advanced, a rage lingering in his eyes with so much intensity that the last time Scar had ever seen anyone so angry had been his own brother, Mufasa.

And the last time Mufasa had been that angry, things hadn't turned out well for Scar.

His righteous anger disappearing, Scar gulped and turned around, intent on fleeing a fight he knew he would lose. He bolted away, down the side of Pride Rock as he heard the roar of Simba behind him. Back down the way he came, his paws hurrying as he scrambled down the ramp. Up above, lightning flashed down, only egging on the fires.

"There! The traitor!" Came a voice, and he glanced aside for just a moment to see several hyenas take off at him.

"Simba!" Cried a voice he recognized as the _real_ traitor, Nala. Was everyone after him now?!

He slid down the last ramp, and the fire flared up all around him. Breathing heavily, he paused for only a moment before braving the flames. The land had completely dried out, and the fire was eating it all up hungrily. He jumped from clearing to clearing, avoiding the deadly fire as it raged all around. He had to get out of here, he just had to survive…

A shape emerged from off to his side, and he felt himself get tackled in mid air. Both he and his assailant hit the ground, with Scar landing on several hot branches, just catching fire. He rolled over to see Nala advance at him, her teeth bared.

"Nala!" Snarled Scar, as he struggled back up.

"It's time we were rid of you, Scar. It's time we ended you!" She shouted, practically foaming at the mouth.

"Isn't that a little drastic? Come now Nala dear-"

"Enough of your lies!" Shouted Simba, as he too burst onto the scene. He came to a stop next to Nala, as the two of them snarled at the cornered lion. Off to the side, he saw more lighting burst from the clouds, lighting up the pridelands.

"My lies!" Growled Scar, as he glanced back behind him to see nothing but a wall of flame. "How about your lies? Your denial about your role in your father's death-"

"Shut up!" Growled Simba, advancing forward with Nala. "Shut up and die!"

He was about to leap forward when three more snarls occupied their attention. Off to their right, several hyenas entered the scene, jumping through the flames ominously. Simba backed off a step in hesitation, as Scar recognized Shenzi glaring at all of them in contempt.

"Hyenas." Growled Simba, rounding onto the hideous creatures. A few of them snickered.

"Yeah, buddy! Hyenas! Here to kill all three of you!"

"What? Shenzi, I'm your king-"

"Shut up Scar." Glared Shenzi. "I heard you, you stinking traitor. You'll be dead before the night is out, at my paws."

"No one cares." Said Nala, advancing toward the hyenas. "Get out of the Pridelands. Your species don't belong here."

"Our species! It was the lions who kicked us out all those ages ago! We're staying here, even if we have to fight you!"

"Wish granted." Growled Nala, as Scar gulped and stepped away, staring back at Simba's angry claws. The hyena's hackles raised, glaring at Nala as she crouched down, ready to pounce. Scar's mind raced, but he saw no way out of the fire. No way to escape death this time, as Simba roared, leaping at the black lion.

Then, there was a spectacular flash of light, and Scar saw, for only a moment, an arc of lightning streaking down toward their clearing. There was an explosion, and Scar remembered no more.

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Judy's POV

"It's quite stormy out there."

"So it is." Grinned Nick, as he leaned back in his seat. He and Judy were sitting in a police car, just waiting for something to happen. Outside the weather was stormy, with rain coming down in buckets as thunder crashed somewhere off in the distance. Little flashes of lighting could be seen every once in awhile, but as they sat safely in their car, it felt perfectly safe.

"The storm is supposed to stop sometime tonight… we'll have to drive home in the rain." Shrugged Judy, as she set her phone down.

"You mean _you'll_ have to drive home in the rain." Smirked Nick, flashing Judy one of his trademark grins. Judy rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, I'm always doing the driving." She replied. "Maybe you'll have to do it this time."

"Come on Carrots, you know I would _so_ prefer that I drive. Rabbits are bad drivers, after all."

"Not as bad as foxes." Retorted Judy, with a playful grin.

"You wound me, Carrots." Stated Nick, shaking his head. "That's a pretty serious accusation against foxes everywhere."

"Well…. you're the only fox I know." She shrugged. "Where do do you think I get it from?"

"Carrots!" Nick put his hand on his heart with mock surprise. "You think I'm a bad driver?"

"From what I've seen so far…. yeah, I would say so." Grinned Judy.

"You better watch it Judy." Grinned Nick, turning back to his seat. "One of these days, my predatory instincts might just get the better of me…"

"Puh. I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh, you better." Said Nick, his eyes glinting. "You know how it is with predators."

"Well…. I do now. Thanks to you." Nodded Judy. "You showed me how wrong I was."

"You're welcome." Grinned Nick. "I'm just a genuine _genius_."

"So you are." Smirked Judy. "Sly Fox."

"Dumb Bunny."

It had been at least a year and a half since the Night Howler incident. Nick had graduated from the police academy only a few months ago, and as the smallest mammals on the force, she and Nick had automatically become partners. Right now they were on patrol, waiting in Sahara Square for someone to break the speed limit.

Nick watched the rain hit the windshield with it's sporadic thudding. The two of them lapsed into silence, the only sound becoming the rain, and occasional booms of thunder.

Judy looked down at her lap. It was said that if you enjoyed your job, you never had to work a day of your life. And for her, that was definitely true. Not just because it had been her dream to become a police officer since age six, but also because of her partner.

Nick was great. Ever since the Night Howler incident, they'd been friends, and becoming partners sealed their friendship. Because they worked together, they did practically everything together. Judy had moved into Nick's much larger apartment, where Nick even had a whole extra room for Judy to sleep in by herself.

Every morning they had a little routine, Judy would wake up first, then whip the blankets off Nick to wake him up. Nick wasn't exactly a morning person, Judy was sure Nick would have been late to his job dozens of times if it hadn't been for her. Then, Nick would make them some sort of breakfast, usually eggs for him, and a salad for Judy. Then came their work, and that usually went until sometime in the afternoon.

But Judy loved her job, and doing it with Nick made it even better. Maybe the job wasn't as smooth sailing as she had first imagined it to be months ago, but it was better with Nick. Being friends with him made life exciting somehow. He was always fresh, always had another joke up his sleeve.

And now, in this stormy afternoon, she sat in their car with her best friend, waiting for a call to come in. A speeding vehicle, a nearby robbery…. they only had to be available.

"Hey Carrots, I think we got something!" Said Nick, interrupting Judy's reverie. She sat up, looking over at the fox.

"What? What is it?" She asked. In response, Nick picked up the radio, and a voice crackled over the receiver.

"We have a suspected 10-91…. Officers in the area, we may require backup."

"10-91?" Asked Judy, straightening with a frown. "How?" She asked. Nick frowned, unease creeping into his expression. And he almost never looked unsure of himself.

"But…...isn't a 10-91-"

"Yeah." Agreed Judy, sitting up and putting the car into gear. "We gotta go."

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 **I took the number 10-91 directly from the Zootopia script, so I'm assuming it's correct unless I got the wrong script.**

 **Anyways, there's the first chapter! Tell me what you think, and I'll be updating regularly, so be sure to follow! Do tell me what you think if ya liked it!**


	2. The Curse Of Evolution

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **And for all of you who like to read stories on this site, I've got an important message for you! A message for (mostly me) and any other author's you come across. Anyways, good, quality stories like this one take hours to write each chapter. I'm not kidding, these stories are a significant investment for me, especially when life is starting to bear down and it gets harder to put time towards this. (Which is why I didn't post the last few weeks…) But really, if I can put five hours into this, you should be able to take five seconds to leave a review.**

 **But enjoy the story anyways!**

 **Here we go.**

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" _Savages_."

The frustrated zebra let out a growl and pounded his hoof on the desk. _Savages_. It was a derogatory term today, nothing but an insult to be hurled around at one another. Politicians referred to their rivals as savage anarchists, celebrities called their detractors savage oafs, and adolescents spray-painted the word onto the walls of their schools. The term was nearly as bad as cuss words referring to mating.

Of course, the liberal usage of this offense had only gotten worse with the Night-Howler outbreak a year or two ago. The whole thing had been chalked up to a corrupt mayor in the end, but the damage had been done. The idea that savage mammals only reacted in violence to one another had been permanently ingrained into the minds of the public and the minds of the educated.

And perhaps more importantly, the minds of the mammals with _money_.

'Savage' of course, referred to mammals before they had evolved into what they were now. It was the scientific term for a pre evolution mammal, the Pre-E mammal. When an animal was hit with the Night-Howler serum, they went crazy, and not savage. That was an extremely important distinction.

And unfortunately for this zebra, it was a distinction only he seemed to recognize.

Doctor Rosenberg was a paleontologist. And not a very well liked one, judging by these letters from his colleagues. He picked up one of the papers he had crumpled a moment before, again reading the little black words he had been sent. His eyes blazed with fury, it was yet another rejection letter. And worse, it was from a conference, one that had been attended by dozens of biologists, historians, archeologists, and paleontologists! Some of them rather well know too.

As his eyes skimmed the page for the second time, he had the distinct feeling of deja-vu. He'd read exactly this sort of letter many times before this one, and all it meant was that once again, the scientific community as a whole was rejecting his theories. His theories, which were right! He knew he was right, all the evidence pointed to it! How could his narrow minded colleagues not see it?

"Pig-headed, narrow-minded, evolved lunatics!" He swore, throwing the crumpled page away from him. He stood up angrily, his white lab coat swishing around his arms as he walked towards the trash bin. Uttering another curse, he kicked it over, sending the contents spilling over the floor.

"What is wrong with them?!" He demanded, gesturing madly at the air.

But what sort of question was that? He knew what was wrong with them! They were backwards! Stuck in their traditional beliefs of the savage mammal! If only savage didn't imply insane! Savage only meant Pre-E mammals, pre evolution!

Evolution. Pah, everyone always referred to evolution as the culmination of history. As if somehow, evolving to their current state was some sort of…. some sort of achievement!

Yeah, some achievement. Their evolved world was a mess, and his very predicament proved it. His colleagues were close-minded, unwilling to listen to the truth, what was right in front of them. And everyone else was crazy, even if they weren't 'savage'. Entire wars were fought because of mammal stupidity, millions of lives spent at the whims of a few.

Ignorance was rampant among the population, and every day mammals devised new and better ways to sink further into their own gluttony. They lost sight of the simple things, always demanding more and more! Crime was an outrage, politics were nothing but bickering, every mammal always willing to push the other down for their own betterment!

The evolved mammal was truly insane.

As Doctor Rosenberg stood in his office, brooding down at the garbage spilled on his floor with his hooves shoved into his pockets, he sighed. He was right, he knew was. He had evidence too, fossils that proved his theory.

The 'savage' mammal, the Pre-E animals of long ago, had achieved Utopia. In that world ever so long ago, it was not the anarchy that the public and his colleagues all believed it had been. No, the world back then had been perfect.

Pre-E mammals were majestic creatures. Not savages at all, they were above the true anarchy that the modern mammal brought. They did not bother themselves with pointless tasks and laziness. They did not rise up and fight horrible wars, they did not create new and better ways to kill each other, they did not have a rich upper class to squash the poor, they did not have power plays, and they did not have a single one of the injustices of the modern world.

They only were as they were, living out their purpose every day. Back then, each animal had been given a noble purpose. For the cheetah, it was running. For the bat, it was flying. For the lion, it was ruling, for the monkey it was climbing, for the beaver it was building, for the mole it was digging, and for the otter it was swimming!

There was no injustice in such a beautiful world! There was none of that, there was only the harmony that each purpose created, and the perfect world that Doctor Rosenberg was after! He would create the Utopia of the past, he would bring the harmony that the modern world so desperately needed! He would be the savior of all living creatures, helping them achieve the beauty of the past and erasing the ugly mark of evolution!

But first, he had to do the impossible.

He had absolutely no idea how to reverse evolution. Or bring about a radical enough change to the mind of the mammal that would again create the mind of a Pre-E.

Doctor Rosenberg was not friendless. He could always use more of course, why else would he be wasting his time with these letters to colleagues and conferences? No, he was not friendless. It helped that he had a fiery charisma to convince mammals of his ideas, and the money to back it up. In this very building, a mansion he'd converted into a lab, there were neuroscientists, chemists, biologists, archeologists, and more paleontologists. Everyone he needed to find a way to reverse evolution itself.

His money allowed him to give his friends the resources they needed to conduct their research. They should have been able to find a way years ago. But frustratingly, there had been no breakthroughs, and even his attempts to bring in fresh minds to the project were unsuccessful.

His door opened.

"Doctor Rosenberg!" A gazelle walked in, wearing a white lab coat and holding a clipboard.

"Please tell me you have good news!" Gasped the Zebra, unable to shake his frustrations off.

"How does more of the same sound?" Shrugged the gazelle, leaning up against the zebra's desk.

"I knew it." Muttered Rosenberg, turning around to silently seeth in anger. The Gazelle glanced down, seeing the trash on the floor.

"Doctor… you haven't had another fit of rage again, have you?" He asked, crinkling his nose.

"So what if I have?!" Demanded the Zebra, spinning around to face the gazelle. "Agh! It's such an infuriating weakness of this evolved brain of mine…. prone to anger, bah! And yet, no one sees the problems we see!"

"Another thorny letter?"

"Indeed. And this time, they even dared to call me a crackpot! As if there's something wrong with me, and not them!"

"Well… there's something wrong with all of us." Sighed the gazelle, examining his hooves boredly. "We evolved."

"Yes, that's the issue." Muttered Rosenberg, shoving his hooves back into his pockets. "Why does no one see what a big problem it is? It's insane! If only we managed to prove our theories…. but we can't reverse evolution! We just can't!"

"Well… we can't _yet_." Shrugged his partner, looking back up at the zebra. "We'll get there eventually…."

"Well explain to me doctor!" Demanded Rosenberg. "Explain to me why we can't yet!"

"You want the short explanation, or the long?" He asked, standing up.

"Short!"

"Right. Anyhow…. we've already discovered how to alter the mind. We've been able to fundamentally change how our brains work, all with the ingestion of certain chemicals. Our biggest problem is that we don't know what to change it to." He said, staring boredly up at the zebra.

"Yes, yes, of course." Muttered Rosenberg, waving the scientist to a stop. "We just don't know how the Pre-E mind worked. You can't get complex synapses off long decayed fossils. And we can't take the risk of simply trying to get it as close as we think it was, because we can't recreate the harmony of the past if the brain isn't exactly right!"

"Well, we're trying. Take comfort in that." Replied the gazelle, with a bit of a dry smile.

"We could be trying for centuries and not get it right….. we're at a dead end." Snarled the zebra, stamping his foot in anger, weak, evolved emotion running through him.

"It really is a shame we can't get our hands on the mind of a savage mammal."

"So it is…" Growled Rosenberg, turning to face the wall with his eyes narrowed. "So it is."

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Their car rolled to a stop, and Judy and Nick hopped out in the rain to find a police car already there, stopped as well with its lights turned on and flashing red and blue. They rushed over to other car where they found Officer Wolfard leaning up against his car, staring at his radio as the rain soaked his fur.

"Wolfard!" Cried Judy, magnifying her voice to be heard over the rain as she and Nick came to a stop next to the timber wolf. For just calling in a report of a savage mammal, he looked surprisingly calm.

"Huh?" Wolfard looked up, glancing around before noticing the rabbit and the fox. "Oh… you two. Hey."

"What's the situation?" Asked Nick, looking up at the larger police officer. Wolfard rolled his eyes.

"The situation?"

"You said you had a 10-91."

"Yeah…. about that…" Wolfard rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting their eyes. "There's no savage mammal." He said, a little sheepishly. Nick and Judy glanced at each other, still trying to ignore the pouring rain.

"Then…. why'd you call a 10-91?" Asked Judy, her ears falling behind her head in confusion.

"I made a mistake." Shrugged Wolfard. "Well, more accurately, me and my partner made a mistake. Someone was pulling a prank! He and panicked and called a 10-91…. that's all."

Nick huffed. They'd responded to a mistake? "Oh yeah? What sort of prank?" He asked.

"Well… come and see. It's just some idiot… sorry about calling you two into help." He replied, as he stood up and walked around the police car. Glancing at each other again, Nick and Judy followed him around as the timber wolf walked into a garage on the other side of the street.

"Hey, let me go, I know my rights!" Whined a voice from inside. Nick and Judy looked inside to see officer Fangmeyer looking extremely perturbed as he held a handcuffed lynx, with the lynx struggling in the tiger's grasp.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone knows their rights." Grumbled Fangmeyer. "But what about _obligations_? Everyone has an _obligation_ to follow the law, but do they? No, they just complain about their rights. And you for example, have an _obligation_ to not pretend you went savage and scare your neighbors into calling the cops!"

"It was just a prank!" Wheezed the teenage lynx, unable to move in the tiger's iron grip. Nick and Judy both cracked smiles as Wolfard shook off his fur, spraying the rainwater around the garage.

"Like I said… sorry about calling you two in over nothing." Said Wolfard, shrugging as Fangmeyer dragged the prankster out the doors.

"It's uh… not a problem." Replied Nick, grinning as he and Judy watched the lynx struggle as he was put into the police car by the larger tiger. It was almost comical.

"Thanks for that… how much time is left on your shift?" Asked Wolfard.

"Two hours. We're nearly there." Grinned Judy.

"Well, lucky you… me and Fangmeyer still have six." Grumbled Wolfard. "I tell you, it's times like this when I wonder why I even wanted the job…. well then, I'll be seeing you two."

"And we'll be seeing you." Called Nick, as the three of them walked back out into the rain and back to their cars. Nick and Judy got back into their car, soaking wet. Nick shook himself, tossing the water around and over Judy.

"Hey!" Snapped Judy, as she raised her paws to try and stop the wet onslaught.

"What?" Asked Nick, with his sly grin. "This is how foxes dry off."

"But why does it have to get me even more wet?" Asked Judy. "Man… two more hours, and it's a warm towel for me."

"It's a shame rabbits have to wait to dry off." Smirked Nick, as Judy started the car. "So then what did rabbits do when they were wet, and didn't have towels?"

"You mean before we evolved?"

"Yeah, basically." He replied, leaning back in his seat as Judy drove off, getting back onto the road.

"Uh…. I don't think we got wet. That's what we had burrows for. We just hid in those when it rained, I think." She replied, trying to think back to her history lessons. Pre-evolution history was prized by every mammal, because many of them still had the characteristics of long ago, helping them in the modern world. For example, she was a bunny, and she could jump higher than any other animal on the force.

"No wonder bunnies are cowards." Grinned Nick, glancing over at Judy as she rolled her eyes. "You even hide from the rain."

"Whatever. Anyways, let's just sweep through the rainforest district before we wrap up our shift…."

"You avoided my challenge, Carrots." Smirked Nick. "Are bunnies really cowards?"

"Keep asking and I'll show you exactly how much." She retorted, glaring at the smug fox.

"Okay, okay..." Nick put his paws up, giving up to Judy's glare. "Bunnies aren't cowards."

"Well, I certainly am not." Said Judy, as they entered one of the tunnels that lead out of the city and into the Rainforest District. Of the twelve different districts, the city was the only one that wasn't specifically tailored to a certain demographic, since it tried to be as open as possible to as many different creatures as possible. But many animals still prefered environments their bodies were made for, and so the greatest city on the planet created the different districts.

Marvels of engineering, each district was walled off with a certain biome contained inside, with giant fans and other devices meant to keep certain areas with their own atmosphere and air quality. And the Rainforest District was kept extremely humid.

"Is it just me, or did the rain pick up?" Asked Nick, sitting up in his seat to look around. The rain had indeed begun to fall harder the moment they entered the new district.

"Yeah, duh. Come on Nick, you've been here before. There's always more water here." Replied Judy, smirking at Nick.

"Especially during a thunderstorm." He muttered, as a boom of thunder accentuated his words.

"Only two more hours left, Nick. Then we'll get back to our apartment, dry off, and just relax on your couch." Grinned Judy, as Nick nodded back with a smile. That was her favorite part of the day, just sitting in his apartment, next to Nick….

"Two more hours." He said, leaning back on his seat.

Then, there was an especially loud boom of thunder, and a magnificent flash of light momentarily blinded both Nick and Judy. Judy slammed on the brakes, her eyes shut for just a moment as the flash of lightning passed. When they opened their eyes again, the car had come to halt and the flash had disappeared.

"That was close." Said Nick, as Judy immediately pulled over to the side of the road. She looked around out the windows, trying to see if she saw any damage.

"No kidding, she muttered. "Where did it hit?"

"Just over there." Replied Nick, pointing out the window and into the jungle beyond. Judy squinted, trying to follow Nick's paw into the foliage. The rainforest district had very few homes in it, but she could see a few treehouses a little ways in.

"Do you think it hit anyone?" Murmured Nick, staring off with Judy.

"I don't know… we should probably check." She said, opening her door. She and Nick hopped out the car, rushing off the road and into the jungle. The Rainforest district was the least populated district, with its inhabitants living few and far between each other. It was very unlikely it hit anyone, but they had to check. It was their duty, and they were bored.

"Just over here!" Called Nick, as they emerged from the trees next to ravine. Nick looked around, checking the area as Judy walked up to the ravine. She didn't see anyone around, so she looked over the side of the ravine. Squinting, she looked through the rain and down at the bottom of the ravine.

Her eyes widened. She could make out shapes, animal shapes lying motionless on the ground.

"Nick! I think I see mammals down there!" She gasped, stepping back from the drop off.

"What?" Exclaimed Nick, running up to her. She pointed down at the ravine and Nick looked over the side, his own eyes widening as well.

"We have to help them, they must have been knocked in by the lightning!" She exclaimed, dread flowing through her.

"I'll call for backup. You get down there and see what you can do." Said Nick, immediately reacting and taking out his radio from his belt. Judy nodded and turned towards the gorge, looking for a way to climb down.

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"Oh…. oh man." Groaned Simba, struggling to open his eyes. He felt rain coming down and soaking his fur, and drenching his mane. All over his body, his muscles hurt, his bones hurt, even his head hurt. What the heck had happened? They had been about to kill Scar, and then there had been a flash of light-

"Nick! I think I see mammals down there!"

Simba managed to pick his head up from the ground, groaning from discomfort. His head hurt… who had yelled? Where had that voice come from?

"Simba!" Came a quiet whisper from beside him, and he looked to the side to see Nala looking at him with her eyes half closed. She looked groggy and dazed, but she was awake.

"Nala… what happened?" Asked Simba, shaking his head to try and clear his headache. He had to get focused.

"I don't know…. where are we?" She asked, as she too shook her head to clear it. Simba blinked, where….. were they?

A quick look around revealed they were in some sort of gorge, or ravine. It was hard to see in the rain, but Simba thought he recognized some of the trees and vines around them, it looked like his old home in the jungle. But how had they gotten back to the jungle? They were in the Pridelands, not the jungle….

"I… this looks like the jungle, Nala. Remember the jungle? Where you found me?"

"Yeah…. I guess it kinda does, but… how did we get here?" She asked, standing up unsteadily.

"Oi!"

Simba and Nala both turned to see hyenas standing next to them, all three of the ones that had been attacking them earlier were up and apparently recovered from whatever happened to them. Simba still had a headache, but the female hyena was glaring at him with malice.

"Shenzi… and Banzai... and Ed," Grumbled Nala, shaking her head again as she

squinted at the hyenas through the rain.

"You know them?" Asked Simba, glancing over at the lioness.

"Of course she knows us, Princy!" Snapped the female hyena, not advancing any further towards the larger lions. Her male companions hung behind her, looking at her for guidance. "And we know her… we're the ones that let her out."

"What did you say?" Asked Simba, again shaking his mane to get the water out.

"Nothing," Nala said quickly, looking down at the ground.

"Right…. Nothing. Sure. Anyways, what the hell are you two doing here?" Demanded Shenzi, scowling at them.

"What are we doing here? What are _you_ doing here?" Countered the red lion, stepping forward.

"What do you mean? Same as you, there was a flash of lightning and suddenly we're here! In this random ravine, in the middle of the rain!"

"That's not answer."

"You don't have an answer either!" Retorted Banzai, as Ed giggled next to him.

"So what if I don't?" Growled Simba, unsheathing his claws. Shenzi saw them, and made a face.

"Come on princy, you aren't going to fight us now, are you?" She asked, sneering at the lions.

"I see no reason why." Shrugged Simba, baring his teeth.

"How about we've suddenly and mysteriously been transported to a random location in who the hell knows where! How about we decide to cooperate before one of us is needlessly injured, depleting our resources and possibly ruining our ability to survive this place! We don't know where we are, we have to stay alive! And that means no fighting," She growled.

Nala and Simba glanced at each other, and Nala grudgingly nodded her head. The logic was sound. They did not know where they were, and five heads were better than two. Maybe they could help the hyenas and themselves at the same time… but only for a short while, of course.

"Fine." Growled Simba, narrowing his eyes at the hyenas. "We'll work together… starting now. First things first, we need to find where we are…"

"We're in a ravine, idiot!" Snapped Banzai. A moment later, Shenzi smacked him over the head.

"No sh*t sherlock." She snarled. "He means where we are in the Pridelands!" Banzai rolled his eyes, and looked down at his paws.

"Exactly." Nodded Simba, as he trotted past the hyenas to walk further down the gorge. Then, he spotted something lying on the side of the gorge next to the wall. Something orange and black….

"Looks like the traitor came too." Grumbled Shenzi, as she and Simba looked over Scar's body. They walked over to the edge of the ravine, where the slanted wall provided protection from the rain. Shenzi out a paw on him, and rolled her eyes. "He's still alive. Maybe just unconscious."

"What do we do with him?" Asked Nala. Simba frowned. Scar was a murderous traitor, but he'd come here with them. Maybe that had been for a purpose.

"I think we should take him with us," He decided, sighing with a little bit of exasperation. Maybe he didn't like it, but it was possible that his brains would come in handy sometime in the near future in this strange landscape.

"You sure? I could just slit his throat, right now." Grinned Shenzi, waving her claws tantalizingly across the dark lion's neck.

"We can always kill him later." Suggested Banzai, with a grin.

"We'll probably do that. That bastard still needs to pay for what he did as the king of the Pride," Snarled Nala, scowling down at the unconscious lion.

"We'll make him pay, don't worry." Growled Simba. "Nala, do you think you can lift him?" He asked. Someone had to carry him, and he certainly didn't feel like it. Nala trotted over and delicately grabbed Scar's mane and neck in her teeth, ready to drag him. She nodded. It wasn't like Scar was especially heavy, he was a scrawny lion after all.

"Right. Well, let's go. We gotta find out where the hell we are."

"Step one, get out of this ravine." Said Shenzi, as she trotted away from the group towards one of the ends of the gorge. The rest of the group followed, padding out of the dry side and into through the rain, silently suffering their soaked fur.

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 **Second chapter ya'll, yeehaw! Leave a review if you liked it, and if you have any questions please ask them in a PM or review, and i'll be ready to answer them!**

 **But seriously, I'm kinda worried I didn't do the first part very well. I made clear what the Zebra's villainous and misguided plot was, right?**

 **I mean, I think it's brilliant, actually. I only just came up with it last Tuesday, and that I didn't have any good plot ideas before then was part of the reason I didn't post the last couple of weeks. But now there's a good plot! So…. yay for me, I guess...**

 **Anyhow, see you…. whenever I manage to post the next chapter...**


	3. It's Not Our Fault We Evolved This Way

**And... introducing... Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **And for all of you who like to read stories on this site, I've got an important message for you! A message for (mostly me) and any other author's you come across. Anyways, good, quality stories like this one take hours to write each chapter. I'm not kidding, these stories are a significant investment for me, especially when life is starting to bear down and it gets harder to put time towards this. But really, if I can put five hours into this, you should be able to take five seconds to leave a review.**

 **But enjoy the story anyways!**

 **Here we go.**

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Judy hopped down to the bottom of the gorge, having just climbed down its slick walls. The rain had soaked the stone and the vines, making the climb treacherous. But she'd managed it anyways, she knew she had to get down to the animals that had been hurt!

She stepped up against the slanted wall of the ravine, which provided protection against the pouring rain. Jogging down the dry area, Judy made her way down the gorge. She narrowed her eyes, trying to look ahead for any sign of the animals she had seen earlier. She raised her ears up, trying to listen for any noises above the pounding rain.

"You don't have an answer either!"

Judy came to a stop, frowning. She heard someone yell something up ahead... some of the mammals down here must be awake! She had to get to them! She picked up her pace, and turned a corner in the ravine, her soft pawsteps silent on the stone.

The moment she turned the corner, she stopped, seeing several mammals in front of her. She was about to call out to them, to ask them if they needed help, when her voice caught in her throat.

In that very moment, she couldn't quite process the... innate wrongness of the scene in front of her. In front of her, just a few feet out in the gorge standing in the rain, were two lions, and three hyenas. Or at least... they looked like lions and hyenas... but... they were... standing on all four legs! And as she looked over the animals, she realized they were completely nude! They had no clothes over their fur!

Were these animals crazy?!

As she stared in complete confusion, she realized that one of the hyenas was talking. The hyena looked female, from the tufts of fur on top of her head. And she was standing in front of two smaller male hyenas.

"We don't know where we are, we have to stay alive! And that means no fighting," growled the female hyena, her teeth bared at the larger lion in front of her. The male lion and the lioness glanced at each other, intelligence clear in their eyes as they appeared to debate what to do next.

"Fine." Growled the red lion, narrowing his eyes at the hyenas. "We'll work together... starting now. First things first, we need to find where we are..."

"We're in a ravine, idiot!" Snapped one of the male hyenas. A moment later, the female hyena smacked him over the head.

"No sh*t sherlock." She snarled. "He means where we are in the Pridelands!" The male rolled his eyes, and looked down at his paws. Judy flicked one of her ears, what had she meant by Pridelands? This was the jungle district...

"Exactly." Nodded the red lion, as he trotted past the hyenas to walk further down the gorge. Judy stared at them, still completely stupefied as the lioness and the hyenas turned around to follow the large male.

Since she was standing behind a rock, she hadn't been noticed by the animals on four legs. Her eyes were still wide, but she blinked, trying to come to her senses despite the strangeness of the sight in front of her. The animals were on four legs and had no clothes... were they... naturalists? Part of the crazy group of animals who liked to... 'go back to their roots'?...

But what were they doing out here, in the middle of the rain, during a lightning storm?!

Keeping her eyes on the animals that were slowly trudging away from her, she took out her phone from her pocket, pulled up the camera, and on an impulse, took a picture. Whoever these animals were, she would at least get their faces on the camera.

Then, the red lion turned, and walked toward the edge of the gorge. He and the female hyena scrutinized something in front of them, and Judy's eyes once again widened when she saw what they were looking at.

It looked like an animal had been hurt!

In front of the animals, lying motionless on the ground was another lion. Except this lion had none of the bright colors the others had, its fur was orange and it had a black mane. It didn't move.

"What do we do with him?" Asked the lioness. The larger male lion frowned down at the scrawny lion, as if he was scrutinizing its fate.

"I think we should take him with us," It said, with a sigh.

"You sure? I could just slit his throat, right now." Said the female hyena, waving her claws above the darker lion's throat. Judy froze, her gaze enraptured by the casual way the hyena had suggested they kill the lion. And none of the other animals even flinched, like murder was...normal to them!

"We can always kill him later." Suggested one of the male hyenas.

"We'll probably do that. That bastard still needs to pay for what he did as the king of the Pride," Snarled the lioness, scowling down at the unconscious lion.

"We'll make him pay, don't worry." Growled the red lion. "Nala, do you think you can lift him?" He asked. The lioness nodded, and gently grabbed the neck of the dark lion with her teeth.

"Right. Well, let's go. We gotta find out where the hell we are."

"Step one, get out of this ravine." Said the female as she trotted away from the group towards one of the ends of the gorge. The group padded away from Judy and into the rain, eventually disappearing behind the blanket of water. Judy stayed still for a few moments, doing her best to think as she stared at the spot the animals had disappeared at.

"Nick?" She said, pulling out her radio. She put her phone away, turning it would need to show the picture to Nick.

"Oh, yes?!" Came the response a moment later. "What Is it? Did you find the mammals?"

"Sort of... I think we have a problem, Nick."

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"So... You say that this group of naturalists threatened to kill an unconscious lion?" Asked Wolfard, as he looked over the ravine.

Officers Fangmeyer and Wolfard had shown up thanks to a radio call from Nick, and an ambulance was waiting next to the road, in case it was needed. But with the group of animals Judy had seen at the bottom of the ravine now gone, they weren't sure what to do next.

"Yes!" Exclaimed Judy, feeling frustrated. "There were three lions, and three hyenas. Each of them were on all fours, and completely... er...nude... so they were definitely naturalists. Crazy ones too, to be out in the middle of the rain."

"At least the rain cleared up." Chuckled Nick, looking up at the sky above them. The weather had slowed to only a drizzle, allowing the sun to shine through several patches of clouds.

"Yeah, sure. But if you're right, we've got a potential murder case in the works." Muttered Wolfard, stuffing his paws into his pockets. "If we're going to do something, we'd better come up with it quick."

"You're a witness, Carrots. And an officer, so we can count on your word to bring these nutcases into questioning. But... you're absolutely sure they were discussing killing an unconscious lion?"

"Yes!" Snapped Judy, glaring at Nick.

"Okay then... before we charge out there like a chicken with its head chopped off, do you know which way they went?" Asked Fangmeyer, the tiger crossing his arms with his usual seriousness. Both Wolfard and Nick turned to look at Judy.

"Well... they mentioned something about getting out of the ravine. It sounded like they were lost, to be honest with you."

"Lost?" Nick flicked one of his ears. "Pretty dumb murderers, if they're lost in the city."

"This is the Rainforest district Nick, it isn't neat and tidy like the other districts. And mostly trees, so it's just like wandering into a forest. Anyways, they said they wanted to get out of the ravine... and they went that way." She pointed down towards the north, where the gorge disappeared from sight in the foliage. "They took the black lion they were talking about killing with them."

"So... I guess they're going to dispose of the body." Muttered Nick, his usually cheerful expression beginning to darken.

"Yeah, so it means we have to hurry. Any more questions before we start looking?" She asked, thumping her foot impatiently.

"Yeah, I do. Can you quick give us their descriptions?" Asked Wolfard, stepping up to Judy. "Uh... they're nude animals."

"Just quickly describe what they looked like." Asked Nick. "The color of their fur, and any other distinctive features."

"Oh... yeah, yeah... oh, yeah! I took a picture!" Exclaimed Judy, taking out her phone and turning it on.

"Really Carrots? You took a picture of them?" Asked Nick, snickering. Judy stared at him for a moment, not understanding what was so funny.

"Yeah, they were talking about killing a lion, so I- hey!" She snapped, immediately glaring at Nick as he grinned at her mischievously. "If you say what you're thinking, I'm going to smack you! It wasn't like that!"

"Sure, Carrots, I believe you." Said Nick, with a mock expression of complete honesty as he took her phone. "We all believe you..."

"Er.. sure..." Said Wolfard, sounding slightly more sincere. Fangmeyer only rolled his eyes.

"Look, that doesn't matter, we have possible killers on the loose! Now look at the picture, and let's go!" Said Judy, still glaring at Nick. Nick took a moment to examine the photo, smirking before passing it to Wolfard. After another moment, Wolfard nodded and passed Judy's phone to Fangmeyer.

"Well, they do look like quite the nutcases." Grinned Nick.

"No kidding... what sort of crazy person would you have to be to actually want to act like a savage?" Asked Wolfard, taking his paws out of his pockets to check his belt.

"You'd have to have something wrong with your head." Muttered Judy. "And these guys certainly do. You had a good look Fangmeyer?" She asked, turning to look up at the tiger. Fangmeyer was staring intensely at the picture, his green eyes narrowed. They stood in silence, waiting for the tiger to answer.

"Hey... Fangmeyer!" Called Wolfard, once it became clear Fangmeyer wasn't going to answer.

"What?" Asked the tiger, finally looking up from the phone.

"You had a good enough look yet? We have potential killers to catch!" Replied Wolfard.

"Oh-y-yes, of course..." Fangmeyer shook his head, as if he was trying to clear it. "Judy, you wouldn't mind if I sent this picture to my phone... so I can print it out and  
put it in my... report..."

"Oh, no problem. Just hurry up, we gotta get going."

"Of course." Nodded the tiger, and a moment later the familiar swoosh of an email being sent was heard. Fangmeyer shut off the phone and leaned down to hand it to Judy, who accepted it and put it in her pocket.

"Thanks." She nodded. "Now let's go!" She, Nick, and Wolfard turned around to leave, preparing to follow the ravine until found a spot where the mammals could have climbed out.

They each made it a few steps until Wolfard stopped, turning back around. Flicking his ears, Nick turned around as well in confusion, prompting Judy to stop. She too looked back to see Fangmeyer not having moved an inch, still standing where he had been with his arms crossed.

"Uh... Fangmeyer?" Called Wolfard, crinkling his nose. "What are you... doing?"

"You three go on ahead!" He called. "I'm going to stay here and radio in to the chief... tell him what's going on. Just don't confront these animals by yourselves! They look crazy."

"You.. want to stay here?" Asked Nick.

"Yes. Just go on without me, I'm sure I'll catch up."

"Well... suit yourself." Shrugged Wolfard. "Try to hurry up, if you will!"

"Don't worry!" Replied the tiger, turning to leave. The three of them watched him walk back through the foliage towards the road, disappearing in the leaves.

"Right. Let's go then." Nodded Judy, as they turned back around to keep going.

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"I tell you, nothing helps get my spirits up better than a good meal." Burped Banzai, as he sat back against the wooden wall of the cave.

"For you maybe." Snorted Nala. "Jaguar meat is a little too stringy for me."

"We're hyenas Nala! We take what we can get." Grinned Shenzi, as Ed giggled behind her. "You should know that by now."

"Oh, I had three years of getting to know too much hyena." Muttered the lioness, as she sat down on the wooden floor, trying to get comfortable.

"Oh, there's no such thing as too much hyena." Added Banzai, rubbing his belly. "Anyways, I'm glad we found a sleeping jaguar in this cave. I know it's a predator, but it's easy meat."

"Heh. Yeah, you're right. It is a strange cave though, isn't it?"

Nala looked around, nodding her head in agreement. It definitely was a strange cave, and the fact that it was made of wood and was all the way up in a tree wasn't the least of it. On the floor there was this fibrous covering, with a colorful pattern on it. The cave itself had several gaping holes in it, and oddly enough each hole was shaped exactly the same.

All over the cave, there these sort of... box, looking things. They were all sorts of sizes, but they were all pretty much the same shape. It was as if rocks suddenly decided to be uniform in shape, but they were all different color. And the weirdest part was that none of the rocks were actually rocks, closer inspection revealed that they too were made of wood. And on top of a lot of the wooden rocks were all sorts of shiny things, things Nala couldn't make sense of. She even found... a reflection of some kind that reflected a picture of the jaguar they had eaten.

It was weird.

"Yeah, it's uh... definitely strange." She nodded. "Wherever we are, we certainly aren't in the Pridelands."

"Maybe we shoulda asked the Jaguar where we were." Said Shenzi, crinkling her nose. "But I guess it's too late for that."

"It certainly is." She smirked, as Simba walked into their part of the cave. He had dragged Scar off into another part of the wooden den. The hyenas and Nala all turned to look over at the red lion, who cleared his throat.

"Hey guys, I think Scar is waking up." He said. Shenzi grinned, chuckling under her breath. "Oh... is he?"

"Yeah. Come on." He said shortly, turning around and walking back through the cave. They walked into another part of the den to find Scar lying in the middle of it, groaning. Scar's eyes flicked up to the animals that had just entered, and they widened with panic.

"Oh!" He managed, struggling to get up. "All of you... are all here... in front of me..." Scar paused. "Would you believe me if I said I had a sudden case of amnesia?"

"No." Growled Simba, stepping up to the weakened lion.

"That's a shame... it certainly feels like I have." Muttered Scar, as he stood up on his shaking legs.

"Yeah, we had headaches too." Said Shenzi, trotting up next to Simba. "But unlike us, you don't have time to get over it."

"Eh... what?" Asked Scar, gritting his teeth as he shut his eyes in concentration. It looked like he had it worse than what Nala had woken up with.

"What he means..." Started Nala, stepping up towards the black lion. "Is that you're going to have to get busy.

It had been agreed upon that since Scar was supposedly the smartest one in their group, they would task him with the job of finding out where they were. Under their strict surveillance of course, there was no chance they would let a lion as slippery as Scar get away. He still had crimes to pay for.

"Yeah buddy, I'd shake that headache off if I were you, cause you gotta figure out where the hell we are." Grinned Shenzi, baring her teeth menacingly. Banzai and Ed stepped up next to her, showing their teeth as an added threat.

"And if you don't, we'll slit your throat." Added Nala.  
"Heh. That rhymes." Snickered Banzai, as Scar narrowed his eyes at them.

"You want me... to figure out where we are, even if you yourselves have no clue? What the hell do you expect me to do, conjure up a magical map?!"

"If that's what it takes." Smirked Simba. "It's your head on the line. And you're supposed to be the smartest one here, so I would get cracking." He and Nala extended their claws threateningly.

"Ah... oh, you all are insufferable!" Moaned Scar, turning around. "You want me to try? How about telling me what you know first, then?"

"So far? All we know is that we're in the middle of some sort of jungle, in a strange cave." Replied Nala. That was all any of them could figure, but Scar had better come up with a more in depth analysis, or that was the end of him.

"Well jee. I see you all are entirely dependent on me then, aren't you?" Muttered Scar, as he shook his head to try and clear it. He turned and looked at the one of the wooden rocks, with the smaller shiny rocks on it.

"I'll... I'll do my best."

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 **TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!**

 **You all have no idea how much of my soul was poured into getting this chapter done. Probably too much.**

 **And... if you are wondering, I did edit this chapter for length... if you think something's missing, that's cause it's in the next chapter now.**


	4. Food Chain

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **And for all of you who like to read stories on this site, I've got an important message for you! A message for (mostly me) and any other author's you come across. Anyways, good, quality stories like this one take hours to write each chapter. I'm not kidding, these stories are a significant investment for me, especially when life is starting to bear down and it gets harder to put time towards this. But really, if I can put five hours into this, you should be able to take five seconds to leave a review.**

 **But enjoy the story anyways!**

 **Here we go.**

 **AND ALSO (IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE) YES YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE THIS FIRST**

 **SECTION! THAT'S BECAUSE I MOVED IT FROM THE LAST CHAPTER BECAUSE OF PACING ISSUES! I RECOMMEND YOU STILL READ IT IF YOU THINK IT'S FAMILIAR, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO! There's new stuff halfway through.**

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"And now, Doctor Rosenberg, have you ever heard of _gene_ editing?"

Doctor Rosenberg stood in front of one of his colleagues in his dark office, who in turn stood in front of a projector with a presentation shining on the wall. With the computer's remote in hand, the gazelle was ready to flick through his presentation, which- _apparently_ \- held great promise.

"Yes, of course I have." Snorted Rosenberg, his usual scowl set heavily onto his face. "Everyone has."

"Ah, of course. But are you familiar with the applications of the technology?" Asked his colleague, his hooves folded behind his back.

"I'm aware it can be used to create weather resistant plants." Replied the Zebra, narrowing his eyes.

"That has been most of the applications up until this date. Ethical regulations have prohibited the tampering of anything other than plants so far, but it has been used to increase the yield of corn tenfold in developing countries plagued by things such as bugs and fungi. It has been incredibly successful is saving otherwise doomed harvests."

"And…. the point of that being?" Shrugged Rosenberg, his scowl deepening. "You've yet to explain why any of it is relevant."

"Well, you see, at its heart gene editing is the purposeful inducing of mutations into a set of DNA." Replied the Gazelle, tapping his remote for a diagram of DNA coming up onto the projector. Doctor Rosenberg sighed.

"Which is?"

"Mutations…." The Gazelle tapped his remote again, bringing his presentation to the next slide. It again showed a set of DNA, only with some segments in the process of being removed. "Have always been random changes in DNA. They can be good or bad, some cause cancer, some give mammals abilities to survive. It is how evolution works, because if a mammal with a mutation that say….. changed the color of his fur to better blend into the background, then that mammal would be more likely to survive, and therefore give his life saving mutation to his children. And they in turn would give it to their children, and so on and so forth. Evolution is a random process, however. Until…. now." Again, he tapped the remote and brought up a set of DNA with the words CRISPR emblazoned above them.

"Get to your point, will you?!" Snarled Rosenberg, stamping his hoof onto the arm of his chair.

"I am sir, this simply requires explanation. You see, the technology is in the infancy, but recently a promising method of changing DNA has emerged. It is called CRISPR-Cas9, and is the simplest, most effective and precise method of editing genes yet. It introduces an enzyme called Cas9, that acts like a sort of scissor. It can cut specific parts of a genome, and making the process of adding or taking away DNA extremely easy, at least in terms of gene editing. And it is this sudden effectiveness of the technology that has brought it to my attention."

"So…. for this to be relevant to me, it has to do with mammals. Can we edit the genes of mammals?" Asked Rosenberg, his eyes sharp as he leaned forward.

"It would have to be done in the embryonic stage of development, but yes, it is one hundred percent possible." Grinned the Gazelle. "We could make a mammal grow into… whatever we wanted it to!"

Rosenberg took a deep breath, a little smile stretched across his face.

"That… sounds promising. We could create a savage mammal to provide the blueprint for the reversal of evolution for the rest of mammal kind!"

"Exactly."

"And is this technology all set?"

"Thanks to CRISPR-Cas9, it has come along quite well. However, to experiment and advance this technology on mammals, we would require embryos of mammals. And currently, with the ethical laws in place, that would land us twenty five years in prison." Replied the Gazelle, shrugging.

"Politicians can be brought. Are there any other complications?" Asked the Zebra.

"None sir. Our best projections with this technology put the success of our project at only thirty to fifty years away!"

" _Thirty to fifty!?"_ Thundered Rosenberg, snapping up to his feet. "That long?!"

"It is currently our best hope." He shrugged, as he tapped his remote again and shut off his presentation. "And no one else has a better idea."

Growling quietly, Rosenberg gnashed his hooves together, his teeth gritted. Setback after setback after setback…. the gazelle was much too optimistic in his opinion…. d*mn his confident smirk!

"Very well…. how much…. _money_ ….. do you need?" He snarled, sitting back down on his chair as he shook with rage.

"In order to start investing and hiring scientists of the field, I'll need a starter of thirty million."

"Granted. Now get out!" Shouted the Zebra, hitting his hoof against the arm of his chair. The gazelle nodded, and walked out of the office to leave Rosenberg alone. The door closed behind the gazelle with a thud, and Rosenberg shut his eyes.

He was not proud of getting angry. It was just another sign of his weak, evolved mind destroying his ability to function. But all these setbacks…. there was always another date, always another projected date for their success, and it was always being pushed out. If his analysts were to be believed, they should have succeeded last year. Now the projection wasn't for another thirty years! Or more!

It was truly infuriating!

There was a knock on the door, and Rosenberg huffed. "Come in." He called, without turning his head. The door opened, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see a tiger walk in, holding a paper in his paws.

"Officer Fangmeyer. Good day to you." He muttered, still not moving.

"Good evening, actually. I've got something you'll want to see."

Officer Fangmeyer was a friend of Rosenberg's. Being a police officer, he had been pre-disposed to seeing the true insanity of the evolved mammal, and it had taken very little convincing for him to come over to Rosenberg's side. No one knew of their friendship, of course, it was strictly professional. And sometimes beneficial, depending on what parts of Rosenberg's operations were being investigated….

"And what is it?" Sighed the Zebra, his eyes flicking down to the paper held in the tiger's hand.

"Something you won't believe. Here, take a look." He said, handing him the paper. The Zebra took it, and narrowed his eyes as he examined the photo in his hooves.

"It looks like a group of inane naturalists." He snorted. "A bunch of lunatics."

"Not quite sir. Look closely. Look at how the legs attach to the body in relation to the head. Look where the muscles of their back legs connect to the posterior of their torso. Look how the paws are formed, and how the front legs bend…"

Rosenberg narrowed his eyes again, and he looked a little closer at the red lion at the center of the photo. After a moment of intense scrutiny, his breath caught in his throat.

"That….. that's not possible." He said, his eyes wide.

"That's what I thought too. I ran it by your experts, and each of them agree that is the exact form of a Pre-E lion."

"It was faked." Gasped the Zebra, still unable to believe his eyes. He stared at the picture, hardly breathing.

"This picture wasn't taken by some random teenager. This picture was taken by one of the best officers of the ZPD, and a friend of mine. Never once has she tried to pull a joke, or gone for a laugh. It is nothing but credible."

"But it's not possible." Replied Rosenberg. "It's not. There is absolutely no chance of savage mammals being found in the middle of civilization! Maybe on an island in the ocean, but not here!"

"Yet here we are." Shrugged Fangmeyer, his green eyes glinting in the light. Rosenberg kept staring at the picture for a moment, his eyes dancing across it. He could find no fault in the physique of the lions or hyenas shown, they looked exactly as the fossils he'd found indicated they would!

"You believe this is…. one hundred percent credible?" He asked, turning to look up at the tiger. "One hundred percent." He agreed.

"Very well. Very well…. take Tim and Krakowski…. ask Tim to give you the scanner. Get right on this." He replied, finally releasing his breath of air.

"Of course, sir." Nodded Fangmeyer, turning to leave.

"Oh, and Fangmeyer…." The tiger stopped and turned. "Lest I look like a fool…. you must not tell anyone that I believed, even for a shadow of a moment, that these mammals might be true savages."

"Of course."

"Very good. Now leave." Said the Zebra, turning back to his chair. The tiger left, once again leaving him alone on the dark room.

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"Dang, I feel like we've combed the entire jungle!"

Nick came to a stop, his paws falling down to his knees as he took a breather. Judy and Wolfard turned around, looking back at Nick as he panted for air. Sighing, Judy glanced at her watch.

"At this rate… we might as well have. Our shift ended hours ago." She said, shrugging.

"So why didn't _we_ end hours ago?" Demanded Nick, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Because we have a job to do…. why else?" Asked Wolfard, smirking with his usual confidence.

"Oh, phooey. I also have a warm bed at home, what about that?….."

"You can quit your whining Nick. We're done." Muttered Judy, as she looked up at the sky. The rainclouds had long since left, and the sun was beginning to set. They'd spent way too much time out here.

"Well, jeez oh pete, finally!" Exclaimed Nick, standing up straight. Judy rolled her eyes as Nick suddenly and miraculously recovered his energy. Then, there was a quick beep.

"My radio." Grinned Nick, taking it off his belt and putting it up to his ear. "Hello Angie, this is the ZPD's most handsome officer speaking….

Judy rolled her eyes again as Wolfard snickered. Nick always answered the radio like that when dispatch called. It was just his style. His extremely annoying style.

"Yes…. oh…." Nick's confident voice dropped very suddenly. Both Wolfard and Judy blinked, turning to Nick as the fox out the radio down. He took a deep breath, then turned back to his companions with his eyes wide. Judy felt a pit of apprehension forming in her stomach, that couldn't be good news….

"Uh…. hey carrots, remember Manchas? That jaguar who went savage on the nighthowler case?" He said, his voice shaking. Judy and Wolfard glanced at each other, a pit of worry beginning to form in Judy's stomach.

"Uh… yeah?" She replied.

"He's dead…..."

"Eaten, actually."

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"Oh my god….. they actually _ate_ him." Whispered Judy, as they stared down at the jaguar's remains.

All around them, police officers were scurrying around, taping off areas and trying to secure the area. Yellow police tape was draped around the house, and already forensics were checking for fur samples. The entire scene was one of morbid organization, because it was all for Manchas.

A very dead, extremely eaten Manchas.

"I'm not looking." Managed Nick, turning back around with his tail all floofed up. Judy gave him an incoherent nod, her eyes wide as she too turned around, away from the grim spectacle. Nick brought his paw up to his mouth, making a choking sound as he ran from the room. Judy watched him go, feeling sick to the stomach herself. Fighting the urge to glance back behind her, she walked out of the room, and turned the corner to get out of sight of the crime scene.

Wolfard walked up to her, his eyes filled with worry.

"Hey- Wolfard." Mumbled Judy, looking up at the disheveled wolf. "Did you see?-"

"I saw." He nodded, cutting her off. "I… yeah, I saw."

"Did you talk to anyone about it?"

"Yeah, I did." He muttered. "The forensics team is already at work. They're not going to touch any of the… the…. _meat…._ quite yet, they're covering the other rooms as quickly as they can. They've already identified several hairs that don't match manchas black fur…. Gray ones, and yellow ones. They think it might be the perpetrator…."

"Yellow?" Asked Judy, gulping. "Like… lion?..."

"Maybe. Some red hairs too. Did you say one of your lions had a red mane?"

"Yeah. One of them had a red mane….. a bright red mane. The hyenas had grey fur, and the lions had yellow…. oh man, Wolfard, I could have arrested them right then and there, I had a gun, why didn't I do anything?" Squeaked Judy, the sick feeling in her stomach becoming a pit of guilt. She had been there…. she could have had enough grounds to arrest or detain them, why…. why hadn't she done anything?!

"Judy." Hissed Wolfard, his eyes narrowing. "Now's not the time to worry about that…. you didn't know they were going to do this, and this might not even be them. Just…. chin up. We have work to do."

Judy nodded, but his short words couldn't even dent the horrid feeling she had now. It wasn't because she was weak…. she'd prepared for this very sort of thing, she knew a day could come where a shortcoming of hers would lead to someone else getting hurt…

It wasn't just that she'd failed.

"Wolfard." She replied, a her voice a whisper. "They _ate_ him."

The wolf nodded, his maw dipping into a frown. Cannabalism was the ultimate taboo, the absolute worst thing any mammal could commit. There were mass murderers out there. Physcos who relished harming other animals. There were even crazies who killed innocent animals for fun!

But not one of them would ever have eaten another mammal.

They just didn't. Eating another mammal was…. was everything they stood against. Thousands of years ago, predators ate prey for food, it was their specialty. It was how they survived from day to day, their only source of nutrition. But now mammals were living in the modern era…. they could think, they could feel, they were…. evolved!

Even to the most insane of mammals out there, there was no going back to those days. Those days weren't their own… they belonged to the unevolved animal, an animal that was wholly different than their own. It was an animal that was….

 _Savage_ .

"Hey. Judy. Wolfard." Nick trotted up to them, his muzzle also in a frown. "Bogo wants to see us."

"Me and Wolfard?" Asked Judy, glad that Nick had shaken her out of her frightened reverie. She didn't need to think about things like that….

"No, not us specifically. He wants to see all of us. Every last spare cop on the force."

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"So…. explain it to us, will you?" Growled Shenzi, crouching down beneath a bush.

"I will! Can't you all just be patient?" Snapped Scar, gritting his teeth as he looked around. Behind him stood Simba and Nala, the hyenas at his sides. Each of them was looking thoroughly annoyed, giving the dark lion in front of them glares.

"Maybe we'd be a little more patient if you would explain to us why we're out here, instead of back inside that wooden tree cave!" Muttered Simba. "It's wet out here, and it was dry in there."

"Wait a moment, will you? I have a theory about where we are." Replied Scar, as he stepped up onto a ridge, poking his head over the top. "The rest of you, stay down."

Shenzi rolled her eyes. A few hours ago, they'd been in the wooden tree cave, finishing up their meal. Scar was walking around the house, being carefully watched by Nala as he examined the different things inside the cave. He'd spent quite a while doing it too, while he'd been looking over the different objects the rain outside had stopped and the sun had come out.

Then, just as Shenzi had been settling down to sleep in their new cave, Scar had ran through, telling them that they had to leave as soon as possible without any explanation. Wary as they were of the traitorous lion, the unfamiliarity of their surroundings and the reassurances that Scar had an explanation had lead to them climbing down the tree and back into the jungle.

And now, two hours later, they were behind a ridge facing their old tree cave, and Scar still hadn't given an explanation.

Shenzi glanced at Simba and Nala, both of whom were glaring at Scar. Sighing, Shenzi padded up next to Scar, and looked over the ridge towards the cave. Scar was looking at it too, his eyes narrowed as he looked over the scene in front of them.

To Shenzi's surprise, she saw that the cave that used to be dark was now full of light, as if hordes of fireflies were swarming the rooms. Or if someone had took the sun, and placed it inside their cave.

But inside she could see several shapes moving around, shapes she couldn't even begin to recognize. They looked vaguely like animals, but there was an…. an innate wrongness to them.

She saw a gazelle, but it had blue fur of some kind. And on top of that, it was standing on it's hind legs, as if it was rearing up to defend against some kind of attack! But it wasn't kicking out like every gazelle Shenzi had seen rear up, instead it was balancing somehow! It was calmly balancing on her hind legs!

And she could also see rhinos, the giant beasts that they were, also standing on his hind legs! And another animal she couldn't recognize, again clad in some sort of blue fur, running hurriedly out the door on his hind legs! The scene was just so…. alien, that Shenzi blinked, and looked away. She couldn't concentrate on that, it wasn't right…. it just wasn't right….

"That's all I need." Grinned Scar, ducking back down. Shenzi looked back down at him, her eyes wide as Scar turned around to face the rest of the assembled animals.

"So… will we get an explanation now?" Asked Banzai, looking grumpy.

"Yes. My friends, I do believe we've stumbled across something I like to call, _Civilization_ ."

Each one of them blinked, glancing at each other.

"Civi-what?" Asked Simba.

"Civilization." Smirked Scar, clearly relishing his greater command of vocabulary than Simba. "Technically, back where we lived at Pride Rock we had civilization too. All it is is how different animals interact with one another, and more importantly, how they cooperate with one another."

"So what do you mean?" Asked Nala, tilting her head. "What's the difference?"

"This civilization is simply more advanced." Replied the black lion. "While we would work together with other prides and species back at Pride Rock, these animals have brought it to another level. Their cooperation is past anything any of us would have even dreamed! Even I, the visionary….."

"You're not a visionary, Scar." Muttered Shenzi. "But that doesn't matter. Why… why are they walking on their hind legs! Do you know that?!"

"Wait, what?" Chorused the other animals, all of them turning to Shenzi.

"What did you say?" Asked Simba.

"They walk on two legs!" Exclaimed Shenzi. "Go take a look!"

Blinking in confusion, Simba, Nala, and the other hyenas walked past Scar and peeked over the ridge. After a moment of staring, their eyes widened, and Nala gasped.

"That's…. that's a gazelle!" She exclaimed. "Why is it blue? And why is it on two legs!"

"I really have no idea." Shrugged Scar, as he looked over with them. "They're probably a different species, I can't see any relation between us. After all, they walk on two legs, and we walk on four. The resemblance must be a coincidence."

"What are we doing here… surrounded by different species?" Asked Simba, frowning in confusion. "Where even are we?"

"No idea." Replied Scar, smirking. "But I do hope you all are aware of the problem we now face."

"Oh yeah? What problem?" Grumbled Banzai, ducking back down behind the ridge. The lions and Ed followed him, their group now successfully behind cover.

"Well, like I mentioned before, these animals are Civilized. Which means they've attained a very high level of cooperation. I don't know how they got around the whole 'eating meat' thing, but they are different species. Perhaps there is no such thing as a predators in this world, no matter how they look like. Anyhow, the point is that while I was looking around that tree cave, I realized all these animals were connected. We're currently inside some sort of community of these creatures, and those creatures-" Scar flicked his tail towards the ridge they were behind, "judging from how they've now swarmed the cave, protect their own."

"Which means?"

"It means? Well my friends, it probably means we're about to be hunted."

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 **So….. I hope you didn't mind that first section. Sorry, the story had pacing issues, so I moved that to this chapter, and now it's hopefully fixed.**

 **But anyhow, leave a review, my friends! Tell me how it's going, and if you like it :)**


	5. Hunted

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just…. skip on over this.**

 **Rose: All right, I don't know if you're still reading this story, since your review was kind of negative, but if you are- well, I think you might just want to keep reading….**

 **Matt The Cheetah!: first of all, isn't Selah a term for rejoicing? Anyhow, you left a very lovely review, I love it when people tell me my story is good, especially as exuberant as you did:) and yup, the drama is increasing, it'll increase a bit more this chapter, and it'll DEFINITELY increase a whole lot more in the next chapter!**

 **As for your questions... all of them will be answered as the story progresses. (But I love questions... if you're not satisfied, tell me)**

 **And now, enjoy the story!**

 **(Also, for any of you who think this story is too dark….. well, I guess you can rest assured, cause I don't think it'll get any worse than that)**

 **(I can think of only one person who would be disappointed by that statement. Don't worry, it's not going to go soft either)**

 **Here we go.**

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"Listen up, all of you!"

Judy, Nick, Wolfard, and every other cop in the room sat up at attention as Chief Bogo cleared his throat. The imposing presence of the cape buffalo had seemingly darkened, the seriousness of his stance projecting silence to the rest of the room. The Chief swept his glare across the room only once, then continued.

"Now then. I hope you all know why you're here."

Judy and the rest of them collectively nodded. They all knew, of course. Just a few hours ago, a crime had been committed in the rainforest district, and as they spoke, several other officers were busy erecting barricades at the entrances to the jungle. It wouldn't be long before every way in and out of the district would be blocked off by cops, and vetting would be required to get through.

And all for a murder.

But it wasn't overkill, not at all. The specific murder in question had been of the late Jaguar, Manchas, and while normally only a murder wouldn't warrant the locking down of an entire district, this murder was…. well, special. Manchas had been eaten as well.

"Good." Said Bogo, his deep voice rumbling with conviction. "Now then, the facts of the case before us. Late last night, at approximately 12:30, the Jaguar Manchas was killed, and his assailants ate him. They left the residence without a trace, except for fur samples. Their current location is unknown, but we've already managed to identify the fur samples. According to our analysts, we're looking at a few hyenas, and at least two lions."

Several of the assembled officers glanced at each other, a few of them with something akin to recognition in their eyes. Bogo paused for a moment, then continued.

"I trust all of you are familiar with the Newton Heights murders."

Judy let out a little gasp. Yes, she'd…. heard about those….

"The Newton Heights murders were committed twenty five years ago. A total of eighteen mammals were found dead, and each and every one of them had been eaten, in some capacity. From fur samples obtained at each scene of the crime, the species that had committed the crimes could only have been a lion. And the worst part is, we never caught the perpetrator."

Judy stared at Bogo, her eyes wide. She'd read about that incident…. it was the largest killing spree ever to take place in the city, and considered the ZPD's biggest failing. It would forever mark history books as an example of the shortcomings police had, because the perpetrator had never been caught. And…. it hadn't even happened that long ago.

Technically, the lion who had committed those murders could still be alive today.

Alive to….. do it all over again.

"However!" Thundered Bogo, his strong voice intent on rallying the disturbed officers in front of him. "If indeed this is the same lion as last time, just with added accomplices, or if this is a new lunatic, we will not let the perpetrator escape our grasp this time! Every known entrance and exit in and out of the Rainforest District has been barricaded or blocked off. In a moment, I'll be sending all of you into the jungle to find the murderer. Remember, we're looking for a lion, and a hyena. There might be more of each specie, but treat every lion or hyena you find with utmost suspicion. Fortunately for us, we do have a lead. Officer Hopps?"

Judy stood up, steeling herself. Nick gave her a supportive glance, and Judy padded up next to Bogo. The buffalo turned around and turned on the projector on the ceiling, a picture appearing on the wall behind Judy. She hopped up on top of the podium and cleared her throat.

"As…. as you can see in the picture behind me, which I took a few hours ago, there are two lions present, and three hyenas. ….obviously enough, they're standing on all four of their legs, a habit we've only seen mirrored by naturalists. Considering they were alone at the time of the picture, in an isolated area, they were committing no crime in and of itself. However-" Judy gestured back at the picture behind her- "Without revealing myself, I heard them discuss murder. Off to the side of this picture, there is another lion, and he was unconscious. They took him with them as they left, and they discussed killing him. After I retrieved backup and attempted to find them again, they had disappeared."

She waited for a moment as the officers in front of her stared at the picture, looking over their features and memorizing how they looked.

"Now, the important takeaway from this is that they look like they're attempting to act like naturalists. And as we all know, naturalists are all about trying to act like…. our ancestors. Now, this is only a theory, but it is possible these are simply naturalists to the extreme, not only mimicking our ancestors looks, but also their actions. Specifically…. eating habits."

Again she paused, letting them take in what she had said. She let one of her ears sag for a moment before sticking it straight back up, attempting to appear alert.

"We don't know if these are the animals that committed last night's crime, but we think it's rather likely. If you meet animals walking on all fours, treat them with caution, and bring them in for questioning. And…. that's all I got." She said, finishing a little awkwardly as she hopped back down to the floor. She say back down next to Nick, and he gave her a comforting nod.

"Very well then!" Bogo resumed speaking, his glare crossing the room with his voice. "You all already have partners. Speak to Angie for your assignments and where to go. We have to catch this one as soon as possible, and we most certainly can't let them get out of the Rainforest District! Now then, get to it!" He thundered.

The assembled animals nodded, and the sound of several chairs squeaking filled the room as they stood up to leave. Nick and Judy waited for the officers to leave until they too filed out, one of the last ones to leave the room. Nick picked up his radio.

"All right Fluff… I'll wait a few moments, then call Angie."

"Yeah, that sounds all right." She nodded, letting out a sigh. This was a massive effort. Almost all of the officers on the force were busy, and all of them would be radioing in to the operator. They probably wouldn't be able to get a hold of her for a little bit.

"Hey, guys!" Wolfard padded up behind them, looking worried. Nick flicked one of his ears, turning around.

"Yeah? What is it Wolfy?" He asked.

"Have you guys seen Fangmeyer? I've tried calling his radio, but he won't pick up!" He hissed, his maw contorted into a frown. Judy and Nick glanced at each other.

"Uh, no… we haven't seen him actually. Not since he walked off with Judy's picture …." Replied Nick, shrugging.

"You don't think he's in trouble, do you?" Asked Judy, her purple eyes widening.

"I don't know. But wherever he is…."

"He'd better have a good reason for not being here."

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Fangmeyer had a _very_ good reason for ignoring his radio. He knew it was his partner, Wolfard, calling him to find out where he was, but at the moment he had much more important things to do.

Perhaps it was high-minded idealism, but there was much more than a simple idea at work here. There were facts driving his actions, and the facts went as such;

First, the evolved, modern mammal, was a disgusting, grotesque representation of the magnificent animals they once had been.

Second, it seemed only a select few mammals, Fangmeyer included, could see how low evolution had sunk mammals into insanity.

Thirdly, the only way to solve the problems the first two facts represented was by turning back the evolutionary clock, to make the modern mammal into the magnificent mammal.

And fourthly, the only way to achieve that goal was to find out how the mind of a Pre-E mammal worked. And currently, whether by luck or simply an elaborate prank, it looked as if there were several Pre-E mammals currently hiding in the jungle district. And so that's where Fangmeyer had to go.

He rounded a corner and entered a lounge, with chairs arranged around a table and a goat lying on one of the couches. Smirking, Fangmeyer walked up to the goat and cleared his throat.

"Tim!"

Groaning, the goat rolled over to face the tiger with a surly expression. He raised his eyebrows a bit when he recognized Fangmeyer, but to his credit, he didn't scowl.

"Fangmeyer. What are you doing here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm here to get you, Tim." Shrugged the tiger. "At Dr. Rosenberg's request. Where's Krakowski?"

"Where do you think?" He replied, frowning. "Helping Julianne. That's all the two of us are doing lately, running errands for her, and the like. Apperantly, her work has become more important."

"Oh? What's Julianne in charge of?"

"How should I know? She's just another crazy scientist in this madhouse they call a lab." He snorted. "Probably something to do with mammal's brains. She always has these charts all over her lab that depict the brain's of different species. I'm just surprised I haven't seen one in a jar yet!"

"I'm sure it's only a matter of time." Chuckled Fangmeyer.

Tim and Krakowski were brothers, and the two of them were by no means scientists. But someone had to do the heavy lifting, and the two goats were part of that effort. They were available for errands or simple lab assistance, rudimentary as it was.

"I'm sure." Replied Tim. "They say the work is going well, but I haven't seen it yet!"

"They'll figure it out eventually." Replied Fangmeyer, grinning. "Incidentally, that's what I'm here for."

"That's what we're all here for, Fangmeyer." Grunted Tim, standing up from the couch. "To help advance the work."

"Of course, but we've just been presented with an extraordinary opportunity." He added, his teeth shining with his smirk. "Doctor Rosenberg has ordered you, me, and Krakowski into the rainforest district. Our mission will be retrieval….."

"Retrieval?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked up at the tiger. "Retrieval of what?"

"Three lions, and three hyenas. They're important to the work, and Doctor Rosenberg has ordered us to bring them in to be examined. He also told us to bring the scanner, so when you get Krakowski, bring that too. Now then, hurry up." Said Fangmeyer, before turning away from Tim and walking out of the room. Behind him he could hear the clacking of the goat's hooves on the floor as he too exited, running to retrieve Krakowski and the scanner.

Fangmeyer left the building, walking out of one of the rear doors to the mansion and into the parking lot. His squad car still stood parked next to the door, and he waited next to it for the brothers to arrive.

A few minutes later, two goats came out through the same door, both dressed for the occasion. Krakowski held in one of his his hooves a remote of some kind, and in his other he held a rifle. Next to him, Tim held an even larger rifle, a clip extending down to his waist. Both of them had flak jackets, shiny new with gas masks hanging from their belts. They walked up to Fangmeyer with large grins, no doubt feeling a little more confident with the heat they were packing.

"You don't think you've overdressed?" Asked Fangmeyer, looking down at Tim's machine gun.

"There's no problem with over-preparing." Smirked Tim. "Now, under preparing…. that's the real shame. Anyhow, you said we would be hunting predators, so we figured we would go with the works."

"Plus, the bigger the gun is, the cooler it looks!" Added Krakowski, brandishing his rifle. Fangmeyer rolled his eyes with sigh.

"It doesn't really matter. Get in you two." He said, turning around and opening his door. The brothers opened one of the rear doors, climbing over each other to get to their seats. Once their grunting was finished, they settled in without even buckling up.

"All right then! To the jungle." Started Fangmeyer, turning on his car. "Krakowski, the scanner if you will…." the goat handed him the remote, and Fangmeyer looked down at the screen.

"Excellent…. Let's go."

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"It just makes no sense!"

"Yeah, we get it Banzai." Grunted Shenzi, rolling her eyes as she climbed in through a hole in the wall. Simba watched her drop inside another cave, this one made out of…. some sort of red stone rather than trees. Scar was already inside, waiting for the rest of them to climb in through the hole he had found.

This cave, like the last one, was shaped almost exactly like a box, except for the angled roof it had on top of the cave. Like the last cave, this too had box holes all over the side, perfect for intruders that needed to climb into the cave. Personally, Simba thought the caves in this world were absolute rubbish, but for the moment they suited their needs.

Nala jumped inside, followed by Banzai and Ed. Simba was the last one in, and he turned around to give the area one last sweeping look, just to make sure they weren't being followed. He turned back to the cave, and jumped inside through the box hole.

"But I'm serious!" Added Banzai, as Scar and Nala surveyed the new cave. "Why would anyone get angry over us having lunch?"

"I said I don't know!" Barked Shenzi, glaring at the smaller hyena. Simba flicked his ears. Banzai did make a good point, nonetheless…. it was crazy to think that the creatures of this world had gotten upset over their lunch, like Scar had said they had.

"Well, I for one, agree with Banzai." He said, speaking up. "It makes no sense for them to get angry over us having lunch."

"Ha! You see Shenzi, Kingy agrees with me!" Snickered Banzai, as Shenzi took the time to cast another glare his way.

"I never said I didn't agree with you Banzai. I agree that the situation is ludicrous, but I don't want to worry about it right now!"

"Oh, why not worry about it right now?" Asked Simba, trotting past the hyenas and over to Nala. "After all, if they are after us, wouldn't it be nice to know why?"

They all turned towards Scar expectantly. Scar looked back at them, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, what is it?" He asked, sounding cranky.

"Well, you seem to know the most about the creatures in this world, so enlighten us, Scar." Grinned Simba, sliding his claws out casually. "Why is it so bad that we had lunch?" Scar glanced down at his claws, scowling at Simba.

"How should I know?!" He replied, glaring at the assembled lions and hyenas.

"Well…. didn't you just explain how they worked earlier?" Asked Nala, smirking at the black lion.

"All I told you was that these animals cooperate with one another. Why we can't have lunch, I don't know or care, but these creatures are likely so vastly different from us, we wouldn't be able to understand them anyway. And I, personally, don't care to find out how they work. I'd rather avoid them." He huffed, before turning back around and padding further into the cave.

Simba flicked his ears, glancing at Nala. Ed let out a whimper, looking down the hallway Scar had left through, making Shenzi snort.

"You ever get the feeling he knows more than he lets on?" Asked Simba, his eyes narrowed.

"All the time. We'll threaten him later, for now he's right that we probably should avoid those creatures…. there's definitely something off about them, and not just that they stand on two legs." Replied Shenzi, as she stood back up.

"You're telling me." Muttered Nala. "Anyways… I'm hungry. I didn't get enough jaguar, you think this cave has someone living in it too?"

"It had better." Replied Simba, standing back up behind Shenzi, as Banzai snickered.

"I've got the rumblies in my tummies!" He chuckled, as they padded out of the room to another part of the cave. They walked up a set of stairs to a higher up room, where Scar stood waiting for them. And he looked a little impatient.

"Took you all long enough. I had enough time to check the rest of the cave while you were mumbling to yourselves downstairs."

"Oh yeah? And what did you discover?" Asked Shenzi, glaring up at the black lion. "Any food?"

"As a matter of fact-" Scar grinned, sweeping around with no small amount of flamboyance- "I did find food!"

"What sort of food?" Asked Nala, sniffing the air.

"All sorts. Lizards and birds, namely. They're all in different boxes, as a sort of… cage or prison for them. They're just in the other room, come along." Smirked Scar, padding to yet another part of the cave. The rest of them followed him in, their eyes widening as they took in the scene in front of them.

Scar had- for once in his life- spoken true. All around the room there were boxes, with bars on each of them. And inside the thin bars of shiny stone were birds of all colors, and lizards of all kinds. Banzai's jaw hung open as he stared out at the massive bounty of meat, his mouth beginning to water.

"That's a lot of food." Whistled Simba.

"You're darn right it is." Chuckled Shenzi, as she looked around the room. She padded past Scar and up to one of the cages, rearing up to grab it. She pushed it over the side of the surface it had been sitting on, and there was a squawk from the bird inside. The thin shiny bars cracked open, and as the bird fumbled out of the opening, Shenzi clamped down with her jaws.

"Well that doesn't taste too bad!" She grinned, spitting out a few feathers. The others turned to other cages, pushing them over and cracking them open to reveal the treasure of food inside. After the many squawks and screeches subsided, they Pridelanders had had their meal.

"Well… hopefully this food isn't off limits in this world either." Burped Banzai, a casual smirk on his muzzle.

"Who knows. But we're full, and that's all that matters." Replied Nala, as she leaned forward to stretch herself after the meal. Simba nodded.

"Yeah, I'll say. This is a fine place to eat though… all the food was in boxes."

"No kidding! It was like it was handed to us on a silver!-"

Shenzi stopped in mid sentence, and she turned around to face the door. She sniffed the air, the rest of the animals staring at her as realization dawned on the female hyena. She sniffed one more time, just to be sure.

"I smell new scents… there's creatures downstairs."

Scar stepped forward, sniffing the air.

"That's going to a problem... I smell a tiger."

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 **Here you all go, I do like this chapter, and we've finally arrived at a climactic moment. I hope you all are ready, cause the next chapter is going to get real.**


	6. With Evolution Comes Technology

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **(IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE HERE)**

 **AND oh man, I loved writing this chapter, please, people, if you must review any chapter anywhere, make it this one. I really want to see if what I consider my best seems good to you all.**

 **And one more thing, don't worry about Tim and Krakowski, the goats. I don't make it clear in the story, but they're both bullies. So they had it coming, in my eyes.**

 **Anyways, not to spoil anything…..**

 **Uh….. just go read it.**

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 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just…. skip on over this.**

 **Rose: Well, you left another negative sort of review last chapter, but you're still reading and leaving reviews that aren't bashing me specifically, so….. I guess you're good. At least you leave reviews. Anyways, maybe you could cheer for Nick and Judy this time! Because they're going to need it this chapter… and I think you'll like this chapter too, going off one of your reviews…**

 **MatTTheCheetah: Seriously, I really hope you get a fanfiction account, so we can chat. Or I can somehow contact you through email or something.**

 **Anyhow, as for your questions….**

 **1\. Scar is just taking an educated guess. And he knows the creatures are different, and different can spark curiosity or conflict**

 **2\. He's just hanging out. And he is Civilized, and he hates it. He thinks the mammals of old had no complicated problems, only their solemn purpose. Beavers build, monkeys climb, otters swim. And what he wants is the perfect balance of that age, so he needs to change the modern mammal's minds to be exaclty the way it was all those years ago. It has to be exactly the same, Night Howlers are just crazy pills.**

 **3\. Fangmeyer still works to uphold society, but he thinks the only conclusive way to fix it is by changing it back to the harmony of old.**

 **4\. They're only guessing about their environment.**

 **5\. And yes, this chapter is awesome. Leave a nice loooong review, if you can! :) I do love your reviews :)**

 **Here we go.**

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Fangmeyer walked up the stairs slowly, his paws hardly creaking on the wooden steps. Tim and Krakowski with their hooves were a different matter, but silence wasn't important. Finding the mammals in the picture was, and according to the scanner, there were lions and hyenas at this residence.

It was a pet shop actually, one that sold everything from lizards, to turtles, to birds, and fish. It would be the perfect place for savage, meat eating predators to get their next lunch, and Fangmeyer suspected they'd already had a feast if indeed they were here.

He stepped up onto the next floor, the goat brothers right behind him. He stopped at the hallway, looking around with his eyes narrowed. If these animals were in fact savage…. he would have to be careful.

"Which room do we check first?" Hissed Tim, as he gripped his rifle.

"We'll go in order… and we stay together. If there's anyone here, we may need firepower." He replied, his voice down to a whisper. "Follow me."

Tim and Krakowski pulled up their guns, aiming forward as Fangmeyer tried the first door. It swung open easily, and Fangmeyer illuminated it with his flashlight a moment later. A quick sweep revealed nothing in the room except for some bare furniture. Turning his flashlight to the next room, he stepped up to the door, this one already hanging open. He raised his flashlight for a peek inside, when a deep growl was heard from behind them.

" _Don't move._ " Snarled the voice, quickly accompanied by the short screams of Tim and Krakowski as they jumped backwards, turning their rifles frantically at the voice behind them. Fangmeyer whipped around, his eyes wide as he stared at the massive lion in front of him.

The lion now blocking their exit was much bigger than an average lion. Even down on all fours, the beast came up to to Fangmeyer's chest, with broad shoulders and a thick mane to finish it off. Fangmeyer had never seen a lion as big as the one that stood before him, and it was truly frightening. He could see its yellow eyes flash and its teeth glint in the light from his paw, completing the intimidating growl.

The three of them stared at the lion in stupefied horror, taking a step away from the beast in front of them. Fangmeyer felt choked, even with the picture Judy had taken, in the back of his mind he hadn't really believed that there were savage creatures in Zootopia. He hadn't really, truly believed that a bit of the wild had seemingly magically appeared in the heart of civilization. And yet, in front of him stood a savage lion, in its physique there was no trace of the modern form. It was no fake, this was truly a savage mammal!

"Ah, ah, ah!" Sneered a voice from behind them yet again, and Fangmeyer whipped around to be faced with another monstrosity. It was another lion, this one slightly taller than the red beast blocking the door, but with a black mane, orange fur, and a lanky body.

"Now when he said, _don't move,_ I do believe that implied not taking steps away from him!" Grinned the black lion, his green eyes flashing in the light. Fangmeyer stood stock still, Tim and Krakowski having frantically moved back to back with their rifles pointed at both beasts. After a moment of trying to find his voice, Fangmeyer gulped.

"You-you can talk."

"Of course we can talk!" Sneered the orange lion, his teeth shining from the flashlight. He paused for a moment, as out of the other rooms several other animals filed out menacingly. The squeaks from the goats got a little louder as they found themselves surrounded by…. Two lions…. and three…. hyenas.

The animals from the picture.

"What do you suppose we are?" He continued, his sinister glare focused on Fangmeyer. "...Savages?"

Savages. Of….. of course, these beasts were savages! Monstrosities from another age!

"Yes." He gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at the several beasts glaring at him. The orange lion drew back ever so slightly, as if he was a little surprised by his answer.

"Well, that explains a lot." Muttered a female hyena, casting Fangmeyer another glare.

"You're real." Added the tiger, his eyes wide.

"Well of course we're real!" Replied the orange lion, still smirking confidently. "Real enough to catch you off guard! Because…. you _were_ looking for us, weren't you?"

"Fangmeyer? T-these are the animals we were l-looking for- right?" Gulped Krakowski, his rifle shaking in his hooves.

"Y-yes." Replied the tiger, his voice shaking as the black lion's eyes flashed.

"So… you were looking for us specifically…. Interesting…" He grinned, baring his teeth in a sinister grin. The hyenas next to him added their own fangs to the mix, making Fangmeyer take a shaky step back.

"Stop playing games Scar, just ask them why they're here!" Snapped the red lion, stamping his paw impatiently.

"Bah." Muttered the black lion, rolling his eyes. Fangmeyer couldn't help but notice a mark over the lion's eye…. the one called Scar. That mark had to be the lion's namesake…. "Fine then. You three! Why are you here?"

"Well- we're- that is-" Fangmeyer almost lost his voice, the unnerving glare from those green eyes nearly stealing his tongue. "As I said, we're looking for you six…"

"Yes, yes, but why?" He repeated.

"Well-"

"Does it have anything to do with a jaguar?" Interjected one of the male hyenas. A moment later, the female clocked him over the head, knocking him over.

"Shut it Banzai! He was just about to answer!"

"Well jeez Shenzi, if you didn't want me to say anything, why didn't you just tell me?" Grumbled the one called… Banzai, as he rubbed the bruise on his head. And the female had to be called Shenzi…..

"It's funnier this way. Now shut up and stay quiet!" She retorted, turning back to Fangmeyer. The one called Scar resumed his glare.

"Continue what you were saying." He huffed. Fangmeyer nodded nervously.

"Of course.… and, no, it has nothing to do with a jaguar-"

"Well that's a relief!" Grinned Banzai, before a moment later he was again whacked upside the head by Shenzi.

"For crying out loud, stay quiet!" She hissed, looking furious. Banzai muttered something under his breath, but said nothing as he stood up. Scar raised an eyebrow, looking back at Fangmeyer.

"So…. you three aren't here because we killed and ate a jaguar?" He asked, frowning at them. Fangmeyer blinked, taking a moment to process what Scar had just said.

"You- you _what_?"

"We killed and ate a jaguar. For lunch." He shrugged, a look on complete indifference on his muzzle. Fangmeyer stared at him, his eyes wide as he tried to think. The animals..… they'd killed someone! They… they had hunted down a citizen of Zootopia and…. eaten him.

Just like the Pre-E mammals of so long ago once had…

"You… you are savages." He whispered, unmoving.

"Yes, yes, you've already said that. You know, if you don't start being useful, we'll just kill you." Said Scar, crinkling his nose in irritation.

"No." Said Fangmeyer simply.

"What?"

"No. You…. you're coming with us." Said Fangmeyer, elbowing Krakowski. The goat gripped his rifle, the familiar feel of the trigger reassuring him. He stepped forward with a more confident look, narrowing his eyes at the lions and hyenas. The animals were savages…. the very creatures Doctor Rosenberg needed to create his Utopia. He had been sent to retrieve them, and so, he _would_ retrieve them.

"Are you serious?" Asked Shenzi, incredulous. Scar stared at them with a surprised expression, as if he was pondering their stupidity.

"Yes… yes we're serious." Nodded Fangmeyer, shaking off the fear that had gripped him. He had a mission to complete, and he would not jeopardize the efforts of his cause just because he had been too frightened to capture such…. such inferior beasts. Perhaps these creatures were of a greater peace of mind than the modern mammal, but when it came to _technology_ ….

Well, Krakowski had a machine gun, and the savages did not.

"If you don't feel like cooperating, none of us would feel too terribly sorry if we killed you." Snarled Scar, his green eyes narrowing. The growls of the hyenas accompanied him, but Fangmeyer stood tall as Krakowski stepped forward.

"No, you won't kill us. You are coming with us, to be taken to a laboratory, where you and your friends will be tested." He replied, the tiger's own eyes narrowing, having shaken off his fear from earlier. "And you can't stop us, either."

"Are you _actually_ that dumb?" Asked the red lion from behind them, sounding completely flabbergasted.

"No, you five are just ignorant." Grinned Fangmeyer, nodding to Krakowski. The goat pointed his gun down at the floor in front of Scar, and pulled the trigger.

A loud boom thundered through the house, causing all of the Pridelanders to leap back from the sudden noise, their eyes shut and crouched down in an instinctive attempt to protect themselves. When the thunderous explosion finished rocketing through the house, each one of the animals looked up with their eyes held wide. They gaped at the rifle Krakowski was holding, the smoke still streaming from the barrel.

"What…. in the world…. was that?!" Rasped Scar, his green eyes on the edge of a panick.

"It's called a gun." Smirked Fangmeyer, soaking in the shocked stare of the animals around them. "And only we carry them. They're immensely fast and powerful, and if you take a look at the floor…."

He took that moment to gesture down at the ground in front of him. The animals, their fur pointing up on edge, looked down at the smoking hole now in the ground.

"That's what it does to anything it hits. In the blink of an eye, it can do the same to each of you, killing you instantly." He said, grinning from the feeling of power he suddenly had.

"You have…. thundersticks….." Mumbled Shenzi, as Ed whined from fright next to her. "That's…. dangerous…"

"They can direct lightning…" Muttered Banzai, his eyes wide.

"You don't intimidate me!" Growled Scar, shaking off his loss of composure. "Your fancy tricks are nothing but smoke and ashes! I defy you!" He spat, his green eyes filled with rage as he stepped forward. Fangmeyer sighed.

"Well…. I suppose the loss of one savage isn't too terrible…. we only need one anyways. Krakowski, if you can…" He nodded to the goat, who chuckled as he raised his rifle. Scar stared down the barrel, his teeth gritted in angry determination.

"Do it." He snarled, and Krakowski let out another chuckle.

"I'm going to enj-"

A horrible hissing could be heard as in the next moment, a large brown mass sprang from the room next to them. Her body as quick as a flash, the lioness had her forelegs stretched out to catch all three of them, her claws extended. She crashed into Fangmeyer, Krakowski, and Tim, sending the four of them tumbling to the floor. Fangmeyer had absolutely no time to react as he felt his head hit the wall, an ugly sounding thud causing stars to erupt in his vision.

Tim and Krakowski hardly fared better. They hit the ground with their rifles clattering away from them, and the lioness's claws grasping at their bodies. But while they had claws, Fangmeyer could see the white teeth gnashing in front of him, making to bite his neck.

Fortunately for the three of them, none of the sharp parts pierced any of them in that first moment. The lioness, having greatly over calculated her momentum, hit the wall with another thud above Fangmeyer. He could hear three different screams of pain, two from his associates, and one from the lioness who had just jumped with near full force into a brick wall.

The lioness fell beside him, and Fangmeyer could do nothing but find himself unable to grasp the speed at which everything was happening. His head was suddenly hurting terribly, and he managed to glance at his sides.

He barely managed to register the large red lion pouncing forward onto Tim as the goat screeched in panick. With a quick strike downwards, Fangmeyer could hear the crack, and the sudden end to Tim's cries. His eyes widened from horror, trying to register what had just happened in front of him. The red lion looked back up, his yellow eyes menacing with their predatory glare.

Krakawski let out a bleat of terror, and as Shenzi rushed forward to do the same to him, he grabbed his gun and swung it like a baseball bat at the hyena. His swing went wide, but it gave the hyena pause. Just barely a long enough pause for the goat to stand up, still holding the machine gun in his hooves.

Using his goat legs, he sprang forward and jumped over the dark lion and the rest of the hyenas, landing behind them. Bleating jibberish and screaming hysterically, he took off running as fast as his hooves could carry him, rushing to another part of the house.

In the few seconds that it took for the animals to watch the fleeing goat, Fangmeyer stumbled up next to the lioness and lunged for the door in front of him, immediately closing it the moment he was in the room. He gasped from pain, he could feel blood on the back of his head. He'd been hurt…. oh, he'd been hurt, he could have been hurt badly… oh no, oh no!

The angry growling from the other animals outside the door caused him to jump from fright. Immediately he grabbed the door handle, twisting it so it locked. A moment later, he heard something that nearly made his heart stop.

"There's no escape Tiger! We're beating the door down, and cracking your neck for threatening us!"

Fangmeyer stepped back from the locked door, begining to wheeze. Off from somewhere else in the building he heard frantic shots, probably Krakowski trying to defend himself. A thud was heard, and the door shook from the force of the impact. The savages were trying to break in! They were trying to break in!

No, no no no no _nonononononoooo_!

Another horrible thud from outside the door, and another round of shots from somewhere in the building. Fangmeyer took his radio out from his belt, nearly fumbling it in his shaking paw.

He needed help.

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Judy and Nick stood behind one of the barricades next to their police car. Its lights were on, a signal to anyone approaching that they needed to stop, if the yellow and black sawhorses blocking the road weren't enough. They were going to be stationed here for another eight hours, and then they would switch shifts with one of the teams currently blocking the jungle.

Off to their right there was another police car, with Wolfard standing next to it. There were two teams at each major checkpoint, a total of four armed officers guarding every large road leading in and out of the district. But since Fangmeyer hadn't yet reported in, Wolfard was all by himself, gritting his teeth in frustration and worry. Fangmeyer was a good cop, so the fact that he hadn't reported in was more than a little worrying.

But of course, they pressed on, checking over cars as they rolled by to get out of the closed district.

Time had been ticking by slowly, the routine stops every couple of moments doing nearly nothing to jar them from their nerve racking boredom. Somewhere in the jungle, there were five, maybe six killers roaming free. And it didn't do much for their state of mind that at least one officer was missing.

"Here comes another car- you get this one Carrots." Muttered Nick, his arms crossed as he stared at the incoming headlights. Judy nodded and stepped out to the vehicle as it slowed.

"Hey there ma'am!" She said, jumping up onto the car door to stand on the rolled down window. The elephant inside nodded.

"E-evening officer…" She said, her voice a little shaky.

"Don't worry ma'am, you have nothing to worry about. I just need to perform a quick sweep of your car…" Judy said, as she glanced at the empty black seats. There was no space to hide a lion or hyena.

"D-do you know who did the killing?" Asked the elephant, sounding a little frightened. The incident had been broadcasted all over the news, with a message for the inhabitants of the rainforest district to completely clear the area as they searched for the perpetrators. Of course, with an order as serious as evacuation, many of the animals leaving were a little frightened.

"We know the species ma'am, and we're hot on their tail." Replied Judy, nodding reassuringly. "We'll have them caught in no time. And you cleared your inspection, I'm already done. Thanks for your cooperation, you can continue on."

Judy hopped back down, and the elephant drove past their barricade and into the tunnel. She walked back to Nick, who still stood silent with his arms crossed.

"Same as everyone else, really." She shrugged, coming to a stop in front of him. "Nothing special. Anything on the radio?"

"Nothing." Replied the fox, shaking his head. "No new leads, situation is… well, unchanged."

"Oh well." Sighed Judy, as she turned back to the road. A few moments of silence passed, with the two of them staring into the darkness before them. They waited in silence, the only sound being the occasional dripping from the trees around them. A few minutes passed like this, in complete, frustrating, monotony.

Then, there was a beep. Wolfard grabbed his radio, and Nick and Judy turned to see him jam the device up to his ear. They raised their eyebrows as they watched Wolfard's eyes widen, a panicked voice on the radio. When the speaker crackled to silence, Wolfard turned to Nick and Judy with his fur on end.

"Fangmeyer! He just called me, he's in trouble!" He said hurriedly, his tail bristling.

"What?!" They echoed.

"He's in trouble! He's trapped in a building with the cannibals outside, he's going to be killed!" He cried, his eyes wide.

"Where?" Shouted Nick, stepping forward.

"A pet shop! He said the street was Kingsmans road, he's in a pet shop and they're trying to kill him!"

Nick and Judy glanced at each other, completely shaken out of their stupor. As one, all three of them turned to their cars, with Wolfard turning his radio back on as he leaped into the driver's seat. He began frantically talking to Angie the operator, his voice sounding desperate as the car revved and he sped off.

Judy buckled up and slammed on the gas, following the squad car in front of them. Now they didn't just have to catch the killers, they also had to save Fangmeyer!

And as she gritted her teeth, she knew one thing was for certain. They weren't going to fail.

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The cars skidded to a stop in front of the building, their lights flashing and sirens blaring. Nine other police cars rolled to a stop next to her, their doors opening as several blue clad animals spilled out. Judy and Nick jumped out of their car, drawing their guns as they looked up at the store in front of them.

The first thing Judy noticed was that one of the front windows were broken, the glass smashed in and littering the floor around it. The rest of the building stood dark, no light shining from any of the other windows.

Cheif Bogo stepped forward in front of the assembled cops, his teeth gritted in determination. All eyes were on the cape buffalo as he clenched his hooves, the fury directed at the animals in the building almost tangible.

"All right!" He shouted, turning around to the rest of them with his eyes alight. "One of our own officers is trapped in there, and the killers are in there with him! We get in there, we arrest them, and we show them the meaning of justice in this city!" He growled.

The other animals clad in blue nodded, gripping their pistols. Judy and Nick glanced at each other, their eyes hard as they steeled themselves for any challenges ahead. Bogo nodded to them, and several officers, riot shields in paw, walked up to the door, opening it carefully.

Wolfard and a Rhino entered first, glancing around silently as they made room for other animals to come inside. Their weapons raised, they moved around to clear the first floor of the building. Most of them carried pistols fitted with tranquilizer darts, for easy immobilization of crooks. Judy however, had bullets.

Judy and Nick crept in after an Okapi and a Lynx, looking around as they moved forward. Her ears up for even the slightest sounds, they walked into one of the other rooms. Empty cages and sleeping lizards adorned the rooms, but the lack of noise was already disturbing Judy.

She and Nick walked back to Wolfard in the center room, the wolf glancing down at them reassuringly.

Then, they all heard a loud crash, and each and every one of the cops in the room turned towards the stairs to see two creatures tumbling down them. The figures crashed to a halt at the bottom of the stairs to reveal a goat, bleating frantically, and a hyena, standing atop his quarry.

They watched with their eyes wide as the hyena shook himself off, and looked back down at the goat as he attempted to swing a hoof at the hyena standing above him on four legs. The hyena raised his paw and dug his claws into the goat's arm, shoving it away from him. Each officer stood frozen in horrid anticipation as in the next moment, the hyena lunged forward with his maw, his teeth flashing.

And before a single one of them could draw breath, he fitted his teeth around the goat's neck, and snapped it. Everyone stood in frightened silence for another millisecond as the hyena withdrew, his eyes flashing menacingly.

"Hey-freeze!" Shouted Wolfard, the first to draw his gun. The hyena whipped around towards his voice, his eyes widening as he noticed the cops in the room for the first time. Judy had barely been given enough time to register what had just happened in the last few seconds as the hyena turned around, and scrambled up the stairs. A single, furious shot from Wolfard went wide, hitting the wall behind him as he leaped onto the second level.

"After him- after him!" He shouted, running forward towards the stairs. Blinking, Judy and Nick ran after him, a rhino and an okapi right behind them as Wolfard jumped over the goat and onto the stairs. Judy and Nick soon followed, not taking the time to glance down at the body.

"Guys! Company, we got company! Scatter!" Came the frantic command from above as the officers ran up the stairs. They too jumped onto the second floor to see three lions and two hyenas gaping at them in surprise, before turning around and jumping into different rooms.

The four of the them, pistols raised and ready to fire, charged forward at the spot the four legged animals had been a moment before. In the few short seconds that the entire scenario had taken to transpire, none of them had given the situation much thought than quick vengeance for the crime committed in front of them. Judy gritted her teeth, sliding to a stop in front of one of the rooms an animal had ran inside.

She could see a lioness inside the room, staring back at her with two wide eyes. She was backing away from the door as quickly as she could, keeping her front towards the police.

"Freeze! You are under arrest!" Shouted Judy, gripping her pistol. The lioness, instead of responding, turned and bolted into another room. Narrowing her eyes, Judy lowered her pistol and ran after her as more cops streamed upstairs, following the commotion.

She rounded the corner with Nick on her heels, chasing after the fleeing lioness. As they ran into the room they skidded into a sudden stop as the lioness jumped at them. She'd turned around and waited for them, and the moment they entered the room the lioness took her chance to pounce on them.

Judy, in the millisecond she had to react, fell backwards onto her tail as Nick jumped to the side. The lioness sailed over them, and without missing a beat kept running back the way she'd come. Judy turned to see the lioness bolt back into the hallway, and again leap at another officer.

This time, the lioness didn't miss her mark. The lynx who had been unfortunate enough to round the corner at that moment was thrown to the floor, the lioness on top of him. Judy could hear him scream in pain, and there was a flash of claws. Before she could raise her gun to do anything, the rhino who had first come up with them raised his fist, and nailed the lioness as hard as he could on her side.

The tan mass of fur flew off to the side from the impact, the lynx that had been below her a moment before hurt, but still alive. Judy could hear the lioness screeching, and a moment later the bang of a pistol cut it short.

Judy stumbled back up next to Nick, the fox hauling her up with his paws. They turned and ran back into the hallway as another flash and the thunder of a gun roared through the hallway. The lioness, seemingly unhurt, stumbled off into another room for slight reprieve. Wolfard growled, lowering his pistol as he took off after her.

"Their sticks! They hold thundersticks, get rid of their sticks!" Roared a voice from one of the rooms, as a large orange lion emerged from another room, looking furious. Judy turned to see the lion crouch down for a moment, before leaping up at the rhino from behind.

Judy raised her gun, but she couldn't fire without fear of hitting her colleague. She and Nick watched as the orange lion landed on the rhino, digging his claws into the much larger mammal's shoulders. The rhino let out a cry of pain, twisting as he tried to shake off the lion.

"Kill them!" Cried Wolfard, as another large lion emerged from another room, taking advantage of the confusion of the rhinoceros as the other cops gaped in horror at the orange lion. Most of them stood there in horrible indecision, and as a moose charged forward to help the rhino, the red lion that had emerged a moment before pounced and nailed the moose in a tackle.

The moose hit the ground hard, and one of his antlers snapped against the floor. The lion let out a growl and dug his claws into the moose's arms, causing the moose to cry out. But before he could deal a killing blow, one of the officers finally drew his tranquilizer.

A dart zipped through the air, burying itself into the red lion's side. Two more followed in quick succession, and the lion roared from pain as he stumbled off the moose. Adrenaline was pumping through the beast, so the lion wouldn't be sapped by the darts for a few rhino next to him still had the orange lion on his back, and was bellowing from rage and pain as he tried to shake him off.

The black lion was cackling with glee, and Judy stood frozen as she watched him score several claw wounds onto the back of the rhino. The laughter coming from the lion was unnerving, almost unnatural, but two officers raised their tranquilizer darts and fired anyways.

The darts hit the rhino in the back, and the black lion took that opportunity to leap off the wounded officer, as another dart sailed over him and embedded itself into the wall. Three different police officers were standing at the center of the hallway, all three of them quickly reloading their darts. Judy and Nick turned to see the red lion, the one that had been hit with the darts, growling angrily as he rounded on Wolfard.

The wolf had already emptied his clip at futile shots at one of the hyenas, and he threw his gun aside as the lion approached him in fury. He raised his paws, baring his teeth in challenge at the larger predator. Judy and Nick bolted away from the oncoming fight, seeking shelter next to the three officers who stood tall.

"Surprise mother f****ers!" Shouted a voice, and Judy turned in horror to see three different hyenas burst from another doorway right at the officers they were running towards. The three of them barely had time to react as the hyenas jumped up at their paws, teeth flashing as they lunged for the dart guns.

The officers drew back in panic, firing their dart guns at the advancing hyenas. Two of the darts missed, but one sailed past Judy's ear and nailed the lioness in the neck as she came out of one of the rooms.

The okapi then fell over onto his tail as they desperately retreated. The female hyena pounced onto the okapi, her teeth bared as she tried to bite his neck. The Okapi bleated in terror, and in a last moment panic drew back his leg and kicked the hyena in the chest. The four legged beast fell backwards, reeling from the kick.

Before Judy could react, the female hyena landed on top of her, thrown by the okapi's powerful hind legs. The larger animal nearly flattened Judy, who gasped from pain as the weight crushed her. But then the hyena got up, turning around to see what she had landed on. Judy let out a cry of horror as the hyena's menacing green eyes flashed the moment she found her target. The hyena immediately brought her paws back down, pinning Judy against the floor as she bared her teeth, preparing to bite her neck.

But this time, Judy didn't freeze in horror. Adrenaline pumping through her, she grasped the gun in her paw and jammed it somewhere into the hyena's chest.

She pulled the trigger, the loud bang hurting her sensitive ears. But she didn't stop, pulling the trigger back twice more in the next moment, sending the hyena reeling back once more.

The female hyena gaped at Judy, and then looked down at her chest. Blood was already on the floor, and had splattered her fur.

"Oh…. Oh, you b*tch." Was all she managed before falling over onto the floor. Judy felt someone haul her up, and Nick's arms protectively helped her stand back up. She looked up at him, shaken slightly, but Nick's reassuring smile helped her stop her paws from shaking.

Over behind them, the red lion had finally succumbed to the darts, and had fallen over in front of Wolfard, who had managed to outlast the lion in barepaws combat. The lion had slumped over onto the floor, next to lioness who had been hit with the dart in the neck. Both of them were knocked out and drugged up, which a retreating orange lion couldn't help but notice.

Over by the stairs, reinforcements emerged. Chief Bogo and several other cops had come up the stairs, grim determination in their eyes. The cape buffalo himself held a tactical shotgun, raised forward to deal with the enemies. Judy turned to see one of the male hyenas dragging another male hyena, several darts in the unconscious hyena's body. The hyena she had shot was still slumped over, unmoving. The orange lion stared down back at them, a look in his eyes that showed nothing but fury, fury at the acknowledgement that he was outmatched.

The orange lion took a single moment to consider the other two lions, both of which were unconscious. Judy could hear him mutter something about Nala being prettier, and then the black lion grabbed Nala's neck in her jaws and dragged her off into another room, closely followed by the male hyena dragging his own comrade.

The area finally came to a silence as the four remaining killers fled the hallway. The quiet whining of the bleeding hyena gave Judy pause, and she looked down at the animal she'd shot.

"I found Fangmeyer!" Shouted Wolfard, stepping out of one of the rooms. In the distance she could hear a door being slammed, and the breaking of glass. "He's been knocked out, but he's alive."

"Good." Muttered the Cheif. "Now Wolfard! Ben, and Andrea! Come with me, we can't let the other four escape!"

And in the next moment, the four officers quickly charged off to the room the animals had disappeared in, leaving the carnage alone again. Judy looked around to see three different cops lying on the ground and bleeding. The moose had claw marks on his arms, but looked stable. The lynx was bleeding on his shoulders and chest, but had managed to stay awake. And the rhino who had been accidentally tranquilized was knocked out, bleeding all along his back.

The only two killers in the room was the bleeding hyena and the unconscious lion, both of whom were quiet and unmoving, save their breathing.

"We gotta call an ambulance." Said Nick, taking out his radio.

"Yeah…. yeah. Call an ambulance." Murmured Judy.

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 **Guys. Guys. My heart and my soul went into this chapter. It's long, too. So guys. Guys….**

 **tELl mE WhaT yOU tHoUgHt!1!1!1!2**

 **This chapter really turned out longer than I thought it would, it's almost six thousand words. When I started it, I was hoping I'd make three thousand. But now it's six thousand. So…. I hope you guys liked the length.**

 **And the fight scene! Did I do a good job with the fight scene?**

 **Oh, and Rose, if you read this chapter, I'm sure you appreciate Shenzi getting shot. So how about a clap for Judy?**

 **Anyways, I'll be seeing you alllllllllllllater!**


	7. Losses

**And... introducing... Zootopia meets the Lion King. So far, I think we're doing pretty good!**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just... skip on over this.**

 **MattTheCheetah: please dude, give me your email or some way to contact you. And you gave a lovely review! Thank you so much!**

 **Anyhow...  
Here we go. **

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"I think he's waking up! Make sure he can't move!"

Simba groaned, struggling to open his eyes. Off in the distance he heard a sort of wailing, as if a dying creature was crying out as loud as it could. But for whatever reason, it kept crying the same sounds, its voice getting louder, and then a little quieter, and then louder, and then a little quieter, in an unceasing wailing. Whatever it was, it was loud, it was annoying, and it hurt Simba's ears.

As he let out another groan, he could feel pain shoot through his shoulders. His memory flashed back to the last time he remembered being awake, during their fight with the creatures. He'd been pierced by some sort of needle, but it hadn't caused him very much pain. However, as he fought some sort of white dog, he'd started to feel slower, and much more tired.

His motions had gotten slower, as if he was swimming in a pool of mud that clung to his body. His eyes had begun to droop, but he still tried to fight the white dog. After he'd lashed out with his claws, the dog had dodged it and fought back with his own claws, digging them into his shoulders. As he'd slowly fallen asleep on his paws, he could feel the dog's claws piercing into his skin.

And then he'd blacked out, his dreams filled with the constant wailing of whatever was making that horrible noise. And even now, as he tried to wake up, he felt exhaustion throughout his body, sapping even his ability to open his eyes. But nonetheless, with every second he could feel his strength returning, his body finally waking up.

Wherever he was, it was bouncy. The sensation would have been alien to him if he hadn't slid down bumpy tree trunks in the jungle, and he felt his body jerk up slightly every couple of

seconds. He flicked his ears, new sounds making their way to them. He could hear animals of some sort scurrying around, shouting things to one another. They were close, wherever they were.

He needed to know where he was. Summoning all his strength, he let out a grunt and opened his eyes.

He was in a small box of sorts, with walls and a ceiling wherever he looked. The box was packed with items, and a creature clad in white fur was standing in front of him, looking back down at him. Simba groaned as he and the creature made eye contact for a short moment before the creature turned away.

"He's awake!" It shouted, his voice barely carrying over the wailing as he spoke to another creature next to Simba. "Keep the tranquilizer ready, just in case!"

The box he was in suddenly jolted, as if it was flipping onto its side. But then the momentum righted itself, and the box went back to the normal jolting. Simba groaned, pain shooting through his shoulders. The dog had cut him, maybe badly. But as he tried to look down at his wounds, he realized that not only was he lying down on some sort of soft surface, but that... a vine or something was stretched across the surface and over his paws. He tried to tug at the vines, but they held his paws secure. The creatures had tied him down!

He grunted, but he couldn't move a single part of his body except his head. As he felt his strength return, he felt furious. What sort of treatment was this? How could they dare to tie him down like this?

Then, he heard labored breathing next to him, barely audible over the sound of the siren. He turned his head to see Shenzi lying on her back, her eyes half closed as she wheezed on the bed.

There was blood all over her fur and on the bed. Another white creature was standing next to her, holding some instruments in his paws as he held them up against her chest where the bleeding came from. Shenzi was wheezing, her maw hanging open as she did her best to breathe.

What was that creature doing to her?! It was hurting her, it had probably cut her open and was killing her! What if the other creatures were to do the same to him in a moment, while he was trapped by the vines?! Anger and fear rippled through him, and he opened his jaw wide as he chest swelled.

A thundering roar burst forth, and he felt the box suddenly swerve as if in reaction to the noise. His roar peaked over the siren, making two of the white creatures fall over from the sheer volume of his anger.

"Ha!" Gasped Shenzi, pain clear in her voice. "You scared them... you scared them sh*tless with that kitty meowling? I thought you were... your father's son! Muffy could... could really roar! That was... that was absolute sh*t, Simba!" She said, before letting out a cry of pain and beginning to whine incoherently.

"It's violent!" Gasped one of them, getting back up "Quick! Tranquilize it!"

Then, Simba felt another needle in his side, and he blacked out again.

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" _We left them behind?!"_

"Yes." Muttered Scar, scowling grumpily at the other three mammals. Ed was sitting off to the side, whining unhappily as Nala and Banzai gaped at Scar in horror.

By some miracle, Ed had managed to not get hit by any of the sleeping needles. After Banzai went under, he'd grabbed his friend by the scruff of his neck and dragged him away, following the orange lion as Scar dragged Nala away. The blue clad mammals wielding the thundersticks and sleeping darts had eventually overwhelmed the Pridelanders in a short scuffle, during which Scar and Ed had had to flee as more of the mammals arrived.

They hadn't gone quietly, of course. The two goats they had been chasing were most certainly dead, and perhaps a few of the first wave of mammals were dead too. Scar couldn't be sure, but the antlered creature looked badly hurt, and the smaller cat was definitely in pain by the time they left. The rhino had fallen over, possibly asleep or dead, and Scar was certain the beast was going to bleed out soon. He had been _very_ precise with his claws.

But these two legged mammals, they just... they carried tools, tools like the thunder sticks and sleeping needles. These tools were so infuriating, they were too hard to counter! One of the perks of being Civilized, he supposed...

After he and Ed had dragged the two unconscious mammals to another room, Scar had broken a window on the side and dropped Nala out, then waited for Ed to do the same. Scar and Ed soon followed, jumping down and out of the building. He could see the flashes of light from the blue mammal's metalic monsters, and so they hurried off in the opposite direction. They could hear pawsteps nearing as Scar found a hole in ground, and in desperation dropped Nala down it, and jumped in after her. Ed had mirrored him, and the four animals fell into some sort of rounded cave with a river filling it.

A nasty river too, it smelled absolutely horrible. The two conscious members of their party kept the other two above the water until they managed to climb out on the metallic bank. And now

they sat here in complete silence in the underground cave, with Nala and Banzai having just woken up.

"You- you- what the hell!" Shouted Nala, looking furious. "You left Simba and Shenzi there for those monsters!"

"I had no choice!" Growled Scar, baring his teeth back at the furious animals.

"No choice! Those creatures... what are they going to do to Shenzi?" Asked Banzai, practically panicking. "What if they kill her?"

"What if they kill Simba?!"

"Get ahold of yourselves!" Shouted Scar, growling at them. "There's very little chance they killed them."

"And why's that?" Demanded Banzai, his eyes wide.

"They used sleeping needles on us. You two were hit, and that's why you blacked out. But you're both fine now, aren't you?" He asked, glaring at them. The animals glanced at each other.

"So... they kidnapped them! We have to go rescue them!" Declared Nala, immediately turning around and running off on the metallic floor.

"Nala! Come back here!" Roared Scar, as Nala skidded to a stop.  
"Where's the way out!" She demanded, turning back to Scar with fire in her eyes.

"I myself don't even know!" He retorted, starting to get impatient. Nala growled and ran back at him.

"You got us in here! Now get us out!" Snarled Banzai, as he and the lioness glared at him with their teeth.

"Look, ask your half witted friend over there! We jumped in here, and were washed to this location by the river." Replied Scar, pointing a claw at Ed, who had been whining miserably. Nala and Banzai both turned to the hyena, raising their eyebrows as they waited for an answer.

"Well? Is he telling the truth, Ed?" Asked Banzai. The hyena gurgled something, then nodded.

"There, you see? I don't know where the exit is." Muttered Scar, as the animals rounded back on him.

"Well, you'd better find an exit! We have to get out of this cave, Simba and Shenzi are in danger!" Said Nala, baring her teeth at him.

"Look, I realize you three want to find your friends, but if we go back up there now, it'll be suicide!" He retorted. "Did none of you pay attention up there when we got out a**'s handed to us? These animals have tools. They're like Rafiki times ten! We can't out fight them!"

"We have to try." Snarled Banzai. "We have to save them!"

"Well, we can't do it now!" Exclaimed Scar, extremely frustrated. "If we want to stand any chance, it'll require work and planning! My planning!"

"Well, start planning then!"

"I'm working on it!" Spat Scar. "Maybe if you two would give me time to think, I could tell you both something concrete."

"Fine! You have time to think. Now tell us something!" Demanded Nala. Scar let out a groan, almost unable to take the impatience of his comrades. Could they not stop and think about the danger those creatures and their tools presented?

"Look." He said, glaring at them. "I need you two to just calm down. As much as it pains me to say it, I'll help you get Shenzi and Simba back. Only because you'll probably tear my throat out if I don't of course, but it's not the thought that counts here. So if you two will calm down, I'll tell you what we have to do right now."

Nala and Banzai glared at him for a few moments, clearly hating his air of superiority. But thankfully, his logic seemed to win out, and Nala let out a sigh.

"Fine then, if you think you're that smart, tell us what we have to do." She muttered.

"Excellent." Grinned Scar. "First of all, we'll have to find an exit out of here. Banzai, you'll get right on that, I hope. Second of all, we definitely can't have a repeat of last night. We were outmatched, and now we've lost the second smartest animal here, and our brute strength. If we try normal tactics, we will fail."

"That... was thoroughly unimpressive." Deadpanned Nala. "Even Ed could have said that."

"Ah, but not even you could apply that which I have just said." He smirked. "You see, the only thing that could possibly fight one of those creatures is something that can counter their tools. Something that can counter their thundersticks and other projectiles. And the only thing that can do that... is another creature."

Nala, Banzai, and Ed looked up at him, squinting as they tried to comprehend what he had just said. Scar grinned back at them, feeling profoundly superior in that moment.

"So... you want us to-"

"Find a creature, yes." He nodded. "The moment we find an exit, we'll see if we can find us... a friend."

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 **All right, so a short little chapter cause the deadline was here. Technically this should have gone up yesterday, but... I couldn't bring myself to finish it. Just lazyness.**

 **Anyhow, next chapter will be longer.**


	8. The Evolutionary Gap

**And... introducing... Zootopia meets the Lion King. So far, I think we're doing pretty good!**

 **(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not a doctor or surgeon and didn't do very much research on the subject either. (I mean, I did some, but I'm still not an expert) I'm just making educated guesses for some of this, and if you think something feels off, it might be because the story needs it to be that way. So... yeah, there's that)**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just... skip on over this.**

 **MattTheCheetah: please dude, give me your email or some way to contact you. And you gave a lovely review! Thank you so much! Oh, and uh... give me some sort of update. Like... how much longer (well, estimated) it will be until you make an account?**

 **Or at least give me your email? I don't know, you don't have to... I'd just like to talk to you.**

 **Rose: Hey, you finally left a positive review! Thanks :)**

 **Anyhow...**

 **Here we go.**

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Judy leaned up against the wall, her radio up to her ear. Nick stood behind her, waiting for her to respond. After a few seconds of Judy nodding to the radio, she set it down.

"Well... they got away." She sighed.

"Darnit!" Said Nick, slapping his paw against his head. "How?"

"They found paw prints next to an open manhole...and nothing more than that. Sniffer dogs can't even pick up a scent." She muttered, scowling down at the floor. "Right now, the other four are as good as free... Even though we're doing our best to seal up the sewers. The only problem is..."

"Those sewers are really old." Nodded Nick. "I used to use them to hide all the time. I don't think anyone has a complete map of those tunnels..."

"Exactly." She mumbled. "But we may get them yet. And at least we got two of them."

"The lion, and the hyena you shot three times in the chest." Snickered Nick. "Nice job, by the way."

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess." Nodded Judy, turning around and glancing at the window across the hall.

They were standing in a hospital, the one the injured lion and hyena had been taken to last night. The lion had been bleeding badly all along his front thanks to Wolfard's claws, and was still under the effects of the tranquilizer. However, the doctor in charge of patching him up assured Judy he would he ready for release soon, once all his open wounds healed up.

The hyena on the other hand, was in the room across from where Judy and Nick were standing. She had fired three bullets somewhere into the hyena's chest, and last she had seen her, was bleeding badly. The surgery had been going on for hours, leaving Nick and Judy to stand outside with no news of how it was going. They had looked in through the window a few times, and an hour ago she had still been alive.

Judy stared at the window across the hall for a few moments before curiousity got the better of her. She padded up to it and hopped up onto the window sill to peer through, with Nick next to her. She didn't know very much about surgery, but every single one of the doctors and surgeons surrounding the hyena on the table looked stressed, even through their masks. That was probably normal, but nonetheless it made Judy feel a tad bit worried...

"Nick." She whispered, her gaze still on the unconscious hyena in front of her.

"What is it?" Asked Nick, his voice also soft.

"What if... what if she dies?" Asked Judy, nodding into the room. Nick paused for a moment.

"Then she would have deserved it." He replied simply. Judy frowned.

"Still... deserved it or not, it would have been because of something _I_ did." She replied, licking her lips nervously. She didn't doubt that this hyena wasn't guilty- she had watched it attack officers- but still...

"I know what you mean." Sighed Nick, exhaling slowly. "It feels wierd to be the executioner, for once..."

"And not just the onlooker." She nodded. "I mean... I wouldn't feel bad about it if that hyena had gone through court and was given the death sentence, but if it dies because of me... I don't know, it just doesn't feel right."

"Well... I can't say I've killed another mammal before, Carrots- and thank goodness for that. But I know understand what you mean. No sane mammal likes having blood on their paws." He mumbled, as he turned to look back at the hyena on the table.

Judy nodded, and looked back inside the room. The hyena was still unconscious, lying on her back in top of the table with surgeons surrounding her. She was breathing through an oxygen mask, her bleeding chest heaving up and down. Judy could even see a bloodbag hooked up to her paw, replenishing what was lost. They stared at the hyena for a few more minutes, watching the surgeons around her delicately insert tools into her.

Then, the door next to them opened up, and one of the doctors, a gazelle, walked out and closed the door behind him. Judy and Nick heard him exhale loudly, but it wasn't a sigh of relief.

"Sir?" Asked Judy, hopping down from the window. The gazelle turned and looked down at them with a weary expression.

"Ah... morning officers... what can I do for you?" He asked.

"We're here for her." Said Nick, jamming a thumb in the hyena's direction. The gazelle glanced back and nodded.

"Oh... you want to know how she's doing?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Nodded Judy, feeling a little trepidation at the gazelle's tired face.

"Not well." He replied, leaning back up against the wall to put a hoof against his forehead. "Not well at all!"

"Why not?" Asked Judy, her heart dropping.

"She's all wrong!" He lamented, as he rubbed his temples nervously. "She's just all wrong, all deformed!"

Nick and Judy glanced at each other, their eyes wide. What could that mean? What was all deformed?

"What's wrong?" Asked Judy, almost afraid to ask. "Nothing... the bullets did, right?"

"No, the bullet wounds would normally be fine. Dangerous of course, but nothing careful paws couldn't take care of. And they didn't hit anything vital, expect for one of the lungs. At least... we don't _think_ it hit anything vital."

"What do you mean?" Asked Nick.

"Her body is all wrong!" He cried again. "It's... off kilter! We even have the top hyena expert in there, and even he's baffled!"

"But what's wrong with her?" Repeated Nick, still unsure of what the gazelle was talking about.

"Her body! There are organs where there shouldn't be organs, bones that are all out of alignment- you have no idea how delicate a surgery is, even if you know where everything is! But none of us can be sure where half of her blood vessels are! We've managed to remove the bullets, and we think we can stop the bleeding, but those bullets may have damaged something important, even if we can't recognize it!"

Judy stared at him, a feeling of hopelessness beginning to well up in her. What if... what if she _had_ killed that hyena? What if that hyena was going to die there on that table, and it would have been becuase of... because of her?!

"But... I don't understand." Croaked Judy, transfixed onto the moaning gazelle.

"I don't either!" He replied, his eyes twitching. "Even her legs are off! Her legs don't bend below her, they bend in front of her! And her arms- they don't even bend to the sides like a normal hyena's! They bend in front of her as well, they look more like forelegs than arms! It makes no sense!" Judy paused, thinking back to the night before. In the heat of the moment, she'd never really given it a second thought, but... every last one of the killers had stood on four legs.

She'd chalked it up to them being insane naturalists, but now... what if those mammals didn't walk on four legs because because they wanted to, but rather because... they had to?

"That makes no sense." Mumbled Judy, unable to comprehend what it meant. In fact, what on earth _did_ it mean?

"I know!" Moaned the gazelle. "I swear we're doing our best, but at this point we just don't know if she'll survive. The bullets- we just can't be sure how bad it was!"

"Oh." Judy said, her eyes wide. "Uh... what exactly- what exactly did the bullets hit?...''

"One damaged one of her lungs." He replied. "She's having trouble breathing, but it shouldn't be fatal. Hopefully, that is... anyhow, the other two bullets both hit one of her shoulders. They shattered a few bones, and tore more than enough flesh as it went through her body... like I said, we should be able to stop the bleeding..."

"Oh." She squeaked, unable to say much else. "So... will she live?..."

"Maybe. Hopefully. Possibly." He mumbled, his eye twitching. "We won't know for a while yet... I- I have to get back in there." With that, he turned back around and rushed back into the room, leaving Nick and Judy behind to stare after the closed door. They stood in silence, unsure of what to do.

"So... do we want to go... check up on the lion?" Asked Nick, his voice soft. Judy stayed silent for another moment.

"Yeah... yeah, let's go check up on the lion." Mumbled Judy, turning back around.

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Chief Bogo entered the hospital, wearing his signature scowl as he glared down at Nick and Judy. They both quickly saluted to him before the cape buffalo could start growling.

"Well, Hopps, Wilde, where is he?" He asked, his hooves folded behind his back.

Nick and Judy had been waiting in the lobby for him, Chief Bogo had decided he wanted to interrogate the red lion himself. The damage he and his comrades had caused last night to his own officers was monstrous, and the cape buffalo was not in a good mood. Judy would have almost pitied the lion, had he not been responsible for half of the carnage...

"The lion we arrested last night is upstairs, and the wounds Wolfard gave him have been treated." Replied Nick, his normal smirk back on his muzzle.

"Is he ready to be transported back to prison?" He growled.  
"No, sir. That doctors tell us he needs a day or two until the bandages are set." Answered Judy.

"Then I'll talk to him here." He said, nodding to them. "Lead me to him." Nick and Judy turned around, padding through the hallways with the Chief behind him. They went up a few stairs until they reached the fifth floor and a moment later entered the room the lion was kept in. Chief Bogo looked down at the bed, his eyes narrowed.

"How much longer until he wakes up?" Asked Judy, looking up at the lioness standing next to the bed.

"Well, he was tranquilized a few hours ago, so it shouldn't be long." Replied the nurse, a lioness with a clipboard. "But if you want to speak to him now, we could give him a dose of adrenaline."

"Is that safe?" Asked Nick.

"It should be." Nodded the lioness. "We could do it now, if you wanted."

"Yeah, we'd like it now." Replied Judy, turning over to the lioness. "So, if you could nurse..." She glanced at the nametag. "Siri."

"It's no problem!" Replied Siri, turning around and running off into the hallway. Judy looked back at the lion, letting out a sigh. The lion was strapped down onto the bed, his paws and torso completely immobilized. Waking him up would be perfectly safe, especially even though Judy could see how long his claws were...

Siri returned holding two shots, smiling cheerily. "I have adrenaline here... and another dose of the tranquilizer, if we need it."

"We might." Chuckled Nick, as the lioness stepped up to the lion and carefully injected the adrenaline into one of his arms. A few silent moments passed, until the red lion let out a groan.

"Ugh... what?" He asked, his eyes half closed as he tried to look around. Bogo walked up to the bed with a scowl, and leaned down.

"Good morning." He growled, his voice deep and threatening. Nick and Judy glanced at eachother, smirking. They'd never seen Bogo interrogate anyone, and they certainly weren't going to miss this opportunity.

"What? Who are you? Where am I!" He asked, the adrenaline starting to kick in as his eyes widened.

"You are in a hospital, and we have been shouldered with the great misfortune of treating your wounds." He replied. "And I have a few questions to ask you..."

"Wait! What's a hospital- why can't I move?" Asked the lion, begining to strain against the straps that held him down against the bed. Judy could see comprehension of his situation slowly dawning, and panick starting to arrive in his eyes.

"You are a prisoner." Growled Bogo. "And I will be asking the questions."

"Prisoner?" Gasped Simba, his eyes widening again. "Hey! You can't keep me here!"

"You are under arrest, and will be kept in our custody!" Snarled Bogo, raising his voice. The lion drew his head back slightly, momentarily cowed by the thundering buffalo. "Now, give me your name!"

"Uh... I'm Simba." He stuttered, staring back at the cape buffalo.

"Good. And the names of your friends?" He asked, as Siri began to start writing furiously.

"My mate is Nala...why am I here?" He asked again.

"Any more names? You had at least five other friends."

"Five others? Where are they? Where's Nala?!" He demanded, shaking off his earlier fright.

"Pay attention to what I ask you!" Growled Bogo, his eyes narrowing.

"No! What happened to Nala- and Shenzi! The hyena, what did you do to her?" He asked, meeting the buffalo's challenge by staring back at his eyes. Bogo glared at him for a few seconds, with Simba glaring right back.

"Four of your friends have escaped. Rest assured, they will soon be in our grasp. The hyena, the one you called Shenzi, is in this hospital as well and being treated. Now, with that off the table... give me the other names!" He said, scowling down at the lion.

"No! Let me go, you can't do this to me!" Simba replied, his voice lowering to a snarl. Nick and Judy glanced at each other again, waiting to see what the Chief would do.

" _Listen, you murderous bastard._ You have been arrested for the crime of killing and eating another mammal. And you have information we need. You _will_ answer me, if you know what's good for you!" He replied, his voice practically thundering at the lion.

But this time, instead of being cowed by the intimidating buffalo, Simba growled back at them, and drew breath. He opened his mouth and unleashed his response, roaring as loud as he could.

The sound could be heard throughout the hospital, the massive roar reverberating all through the halls. Every last patient and doctor nearly jumped at the sound, they'd all heard lions roar before, but this one was... different. This one was louder. This one was massive, and this one was...

Savage.

Then, Simba slumped down as Judy took her paws off her ears. Behind him, Siri had stuck the other needle into his torso, successfully tranquilizing him again.

"I... I didn't know what to do, so I just... stuck him..." She stuttered, taking the needle out. Chief Bogo looked down at the unconscious lion again, his muzzle contorted into digust.

"Wonderful." He muttered, before turning around and walking out, leaving Nick and Judy to stare after him in silence.

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Fangmeyer laid in bed, one of his eyes covered by the bandages on his head. He groaned as he tried to get comfortable, his headache making relaxation nearly impossible.

He'd been taken here by an ambulance, his concussion allowing him to avoid any embarrassing or compromising questions. Since he'd fallen unconscious after radioing Wolfard, he'd awakened here on the hospital bed, by himself. That was fine by him, he preferred silence when he could have it.

Of course, the silence forced him to ponder the events of last night. He had failed rather spectacularly at the retrieval of a few savage mammals, but beyond that, he had no idea of what had occured. No one had bothered to fill him in of what had happened, but it hardly mattered.

He had... well, he had failed. "Fangmeyer!"

He looked up, his head aching from the sudden movement. At the door, a deer stood smirking at him, her eyes flashing.

"Oh... hello Julianne." He muttered, settling back in his bed. The deer chuckled, and walked up beside him. She was one of the scientists under Rosenberg's charge, and one of his most ardent supporters. Of course, Fangmeyer knew she wasn't exactly blinded by the doctor's vision, she, and many other scientists, deviated slightly from his vison and pictured themselves as the ruling class once every other mammal was nothing more than a simple savage.

"Hello, Fangmeyer. What are you doing here, stuck in a hospital bed?" She asked, grinning down at him.

"I got a concussion." He replied sharply, not turning over to face her.

"Aww, I bet that hurt." She snickered.

"It did." He muttered, scowling. Julianne snorted.

"Look, I came to give you a little news...Tim and Krakowksi are dead."

"What?!" He exclaimed, turning over with his eyes wide. "Did- did you say dead?" The deer only smirked.

"Oh yes. Both with their necks broken, according to the police. Killed by savage mammals you chasing..." She replied.

"I... I didn't know they died!" He gasped, his eyes wide. "I didn't mean to get them killed!"

"Relax!" Chuckled Julianne, not looking very concerned. "They were just the grunt work, easily replaced. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"But- but they're dead!"

"By their own failings!" She replied, practically laughing. "Listen Fangmeyer, their death isn't your fault, it's theirs for not being able to shoot straight. In fact, you should be proud you managed to survive their incompetence, concussion or not. Fangmeyer, this is a time to rejoice!"

"Over their deaths?"

"No! Over the discovery! Tell me Fangmeyer... were those mammals beasts? Were they everything we needed them to be? Were they truly...savage?" She asked, turning back to the tiger with a fire in her eyes. Fangmeyer took a moment to stare back at her, before slowly nodding.

"Yes... they're savage."

"Then this is a time to rejoice!" She grinned, stepping back towards him. "We're close Fangmeyer, we're close to achieving the Doctor's utopia..."

"And your rule over that Utopia." He snorted, casting a glare her way. "I know what you don't tell Rosenberg..."

"Rosenberg is an idealist. But a competent one at that, without him none of this woulds have been possible." She grinned, rubbing her hooves together. "I don't plan on turning myself into a dumb animal, and soon the doctor will agree with my way of thinking... the rest of civilization could use some savagery though, don't you think?"

"It is not savagery those mammals possess, that is simply the layman's term." Muttered Fangmeyer. "They posses greater purpose than we do... a greater peace of mind that we ourselves interpret as savagery because of the environment they've been thrust in."

"Whatever you say." Replied Julianne, rolling her eyes. "The point is, Tim and Krakowski's deaths weren't your fault, and now is the last time you even have to worry about it."

"I... I suppose that is true." He managed, feeling somewhat comforted by his collueges fire. She was right... now wasn't a time to worry about it. There were more important things at stake. "But... where did they go? Where are those mammals now?"

Julianne opened her mouth to answer, when a loud noise suddenly reached their ears. A roaring swept through the hospital, making Fangmeyer's eyes widen as he listened to the gutteral sound fade. He and Julianne glanced at eachother, with the deer grinning.

"According to the police, four escaped clean." She smirked. "But they have two here, in this very hospital. One is in surgery for bullet wounds, and the other is knocked out."

"We... we have to retrieve them then!" He said, sitting up in his bed. "It's not that easy." She snorted. "They're under watch."

"Well, bribe the hospital then!" He replied, raising an eyebrow. Why hadn't they gotten the mammals yet, if they were stuck here in the hospital? Where could they even escape to, in the middle of the city?

"Under police guard." Added Julianne.

"Oh... well, I suppose there's no bribing Chief Bogo..." Muttered Fangmeyer, gritting his teeth. "But they're so close! We can't let them slip out of our fingers!"

"Oh, don't worry." Smirked Juliane, turning back to the door. She stopped at the entrance, glancing back at the wounded tiger with a gleam in her eyes.

"The good Doctor Rosenberg tells me he has a plan."

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 **So... I do like this chapter, but it kinda feels a bit off... tell me what you think. Is it good? Is it intruiging still?**


	9. It's A Small World After All

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **So far, I think we're doing pretty good!**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just…. skip on over this.**

 **Rose: yeah, some authors don't pay too much attention to guest reviews. But I am not one of those authors! And also, thanks that you think this is one of the best crossovers you've read! I mean, I think it's the best, but that may just be me…**

 **And I'm very glad you're interested!**

 **MattTheCheetah: please dude, give me your email or some way to contact you. And you gave a lovely review! Thank you so much!**

 **And as for all your lovely questions…..**

 **1\. What do you mean? Where what idea came from? And yes, he is trying to work for the good of society, he's just a little misguided. And Fangmeyer distrusts Julianne because she doesn't plan on becoming a 'savage' like Rosenberg envisions. And all Julianne means is that she would be one of the few mammals who wouldn't be turned into a savage, so she and her collueges would have the ultimate freedom to do nearly anything. Thus, 'ruling' over the world.**

 **2\. That's explained in this chapter.**

 **3\. Simba and company are criminals, and murderers, so yeah, he has plenty of reason to treat them harshly. I mean, wouldn't you dislike a serial killer?**

 **4\. Judy simply doesn't want Shenzi to die by her paw. She thinks that would be unfair, even to a killer. They deserve to work through the justice system. But they're still murders.**

 **5\. How much worse can things get for Simba? You'll see in this chapter….**

 **6\. And uh… what will I never guess?**

 **Anyhow…**

 **Here we go.**

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Scar raised his paws and pushed up against the metal above him, his hindlegs straining to support his weight. Below him the others were dangling precariously on the rungs, having climbed up the metal tube of sorts. There was an inch of light coming through from cracks in the metal, and they all had agreed this was their best chance at finding an exit. Especially since they'd been walking for hours to try to find a silent exit.

Of course, it meant that Scar had to go up first to check for danger. Nala and Banzai had threatened to do him bodily harm otherwise, so he'd relented after a few biting words of sarcasm. And now he was stretched in the most uncomfortable position, almost standing up like the other creatures that lived here. He pushed the metal up and tossed it aside, leaving an open hole for them to climb through. Scrabbling for leverage, he hauled himself up and out, taking a gasp of fresh air. Finally, they were free of that horrid smelling cave…. "So… where are we?" Asked Nala, as she climbed out of the hole. Scar glanced around.

They were standing on a large, flat rock that extended down as far as Scar could see in both directions. The rock was black and extremely straight, almost certainly put here on purpose for one reason or another. But around them they were surrounded by the much more familiar sight of trees, with greenery on either side of the black rock.

The trees themselves looked rather different from the savanna trees they were used to, with branches and leaves all the way down the trunk rather than in a canopy near the top. But they weren't jungle trees either, they were younger, cleaner, and certainly less dense than the thick jungle they had been in only a few hours ago. Scar had no idea how terrain could change so quickly, he was sure they hadn't walked that far in the caves below them.

But at least they seemed to be alone. Scar saw none of the box caves that the creatures inhabited, and lonely wilderness was the only thing that surrounded them, if they discounted the black rock.

"I have no rightful idea." Replied Scar, scowling at nothing in particular. "But we're filthy, I'll tell you that much."

"So start cleaning yourself then." Shrugged Nala, as she rolled over onto her back and began licking her paws. Ed giggled as he copied Nala, leaving Banzai to pause a moment before doing the same. Scar eyed them for a moment, before letting out a snort.

"What is it?" Asked Nala, pausing in her grooming to cast him a glare.

"I'd rather just find a river, thank you very much." He replied, returning the glare before turning around and padding away.

"Hey!" Came the exclamation from behind. "You can't just walk off by yourself, we're supposed to stick together!"

"You'd better follow me, then!" He called back, not slowing in his step. He heard low grumbling erupt between the other three mammals, but in a moment he heard their paws padding behind him reluctantly. He allowed his scowl to curve into a smirk.

"Okay, fine. We'll find a river, but what then?" Demanded Banzai, his voice as abrasive as usual.

"We wash ourselves in it." Replied Scar, his eyes glinting. Banzai took a moment to pause as he realized he was being mocked.

"Hey! I meant what do we do after we've washed in the river?" He said, growling. Scar chuckled to himself.

"I think I already explained this to you, Banzai." He said, looking back at him with a sense of superiority that he always had when talking to any hyena other than Shenzi. "Once we're washed up, we're going to have to find ourselves some sort of friend. We already know that we can talk to the creatures that inhabit this area, so we shouldn't have a problem communicating what we need."

"All right…. but we know that those creatures are after us, and us specifically." Said Nala. "How are we ever supposed to befriend a creature who hates us?"

"Well…. friend is just a term I pulled out of my head." Shrugged Scar. "The way I see it, we find a creature that is all alone, and if we have to, we'll force it to help us. All we really need out of it is information, and perhaps some guidance. Oh, and once we talk to it, we can't let it go to alert any other creatures. Banzai and Ed, whatever mammal we find, you'll be in charge of watching it and making sure it can't escape."

"Fine." Muttered Banzai, as Ed let out another giggle in agreement.

"Good. Now keep those ears up for any sounds of running water…" They continued padding through the forest, their paws crunching the leaves below them. The rest of their journey passed in near silence as they walked between the trees, with Banzai, Ed and Nala staying behind Scar and letting him guide them.

It was almost like being King again…

"Woah! What is that?" Banzai's voice suddenly shattered the serene silence, jarring Scar out of his reverie. He and the other turned back to the hyena to see him pointing out in front of them with a raised paw.

"Uh… some sort of cliff?" Tried Nala, as Scar turned to look over at the obstacle Banzai had pointed out. Not too far out in front of them, some sort of brown rock protruded out of the ground in a perfect rectangle. Scar raised an eyebrow as they quickly padded up to it, coming up to the brown rock.

He looked from side to side to see it stretch off into the distance. It looked like a rock all right, with green vines stretching out of the ground and climbing up the side. But like the black rock they had come out on earlier, it was a perfect rectangular, certainly fashioned and put there on purpose by the creatures.

There was also some sort of faint buzzing from somewhere, almost as if a bee was hovering near Scar's ear. But there was no bee, and the sound wasn't too infuriating, so he shrugged it off and ignored it.

"So… what do we do?" Asked Nala, as she placed a paw on the immovable rock. Scar grumbled to himself.

"I guess…. I guess we'll have to go around…." He growled, looking up at the tall, smooth surface. Climbing it would be too much of a bother…

"Wait! Do you…. do you hear that?" Asked Nala, flicking her ears. Banzai and Ed looked around in confusion as Scar eyed her.

"Hear what?"

"Water! I hear water…. don't you guys hear splashing?" She asked, flicking her ears again. Scar raised an eyebrow, but stilled himself as he strained his ears to listen. For a few moments, all he could hear was the gentle buzzing, but after a few moments, he could make out the sound of water.

"I… I do…" He nodded, frowning in disappointment that he hadn't been able to hear it earlier. But nonetheless, each of them turned towards the sound of splashing water somewhere in the distance…

To find themselves staring at the wall again.

"Blast!" Cursed Scar, looking over the brown stone. "The water is on the other side?"

"It sounds that way." Shrugged Nala, as she looked up at the top.

"Then we'll climb it." Said Banzai, as if it were obvious. Scar snorted.

"How are we supposed to climb this? The stone is too smooth for claws to grasp." Replied Scar, putting a paw onto the wall to feel it. He tried to dig into it with his claws, but only succeeded in leaving several white marks. Nala glanced around the area, as if looking for a way over.

"Well…. I don't know where else we'll find a place to wash up…" She said.

"Well, we can't let ourselves be defeated by a simple wall!" Growled Scar, as he glared at the brown stone. It wasn't even that tall, only about two lion lengths including the tail….

"What if we stacked wood?" Suggested Banzai, trying to think.

Nala, Scar, and Ed all turned towards him with their eyebrows raised. Banzai blinked, and stared back at them.

"Uh… is it a bad idea?" He asked, looking a little worried. Nala and Scar glanced at each other.

"Uh…. no, it's actually kinda-"

"Wait! Everyone hold still." Scar barked, interrupting Nala and raising a paw to draw the attention of the rest of the group. Nala leaned forward, concerned.

"What is it? Do you see something?" She asked. Scar shook his head.

"No, I just want to commemorate this moment…. the day Banzai had a good idea!" He snickered, before turning around. Nala let out a chuckle as Banzai paused. He took a moment before looking up with anger.

"Hey! I have good ideas all the time!" He growled, leaving Scar to smirk smugly.

"Whatever you say…." He shrugged, as he grabbed a fallen log with his paws and began to drag it back to the wall. Banzai snarled angrily under his breath, but turned around to help find more wood.

After a few minutes if searching around the forest for dead trees big enough to stack, the group assembled a sizable pile of wood and leaned it up against the wall. Scar smirked triumphantly as he clawed his way up their makeshift ladder, and jumped over the wall and the metal that adorned the top to land on the other side. As he passed over the spiky metal, the buzzing got a little louder, but he cleared the jump without a problem and landed on the other side.

Suddenly, it looked like the forest had disappeared. All around him were pristine hills of well mowed grass, dotted by arching pathways, little ponds in the valleys, and perfectly trimmed hedges. The landscape looked completely alien to him, it was as if nature itself was conforming its standards to fit the ones he had only seen with the creatures.

Perhaps the creatures had built this, if they could make wooden caves, then they could alter this landscape to look…. well, to look tidy. Scar had never seen anything in nature look tidy, and yet it was all around him.

Nala, Banzai, and Ed dropped over, their eyes widening as they took a look around. Scar could see the astonishment on their faces to see nature tamed so perfectly. It was certainly a sight to see, even if it was unnatural…..

He looked down at the nearest pond, finding the source of the water they had heard. From the center of the pond water was spurting up, making a fountain of sorts as it splashed down into the pond. He padded up to the water, and dipped his paw into the crystal clear substance. It was cool to the touch, and most certainly perfect for getting rid of his filth.

"Nala! Banzai! Ed! Get over here!" He called, as he walked into the water. The other three came over as Scar rolled over in the water, letting the dirt and grime and… whatever substance had been in those metal caves seep out of his fur. The other joined him, jumping into the water happily.

A few minutes later, he stepped out and shook himself dry. He sat down in the sun, letting his fur dry up as he waited for the other three to finish their baths.

"Well… this place is nice." Remarked Nala, as she stepped out and shook her fur off.

"Too nice, for my taste." Shrugged Scar. "It's unnatural."

"Everything about these creatures is unnatural." She replied, as she sat down in the grass and rolled over. Banzai and Ed got out a few minutes later, shaking their fur off as well. Banzai began humming happily as he walked away from them, padding up one of the pristine hills.

They sat in silence for a few moments as the last of the water in Scar's fur dried up. Nala stood up to stretch herself out when Banzai came running back.

"Guys!" He said, hissing anxiously. "I saw a creature! And she's all alone!"

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Gazelle knew the value of privacy.

She loved being a pop star, but there was one big disadvantage to being nationally famous. And that was being stripped of nearly all your secrets and personal life.

The paparazzi were the bane of her existence. They were photographers who would follow her around, and take pictures of her at nearly any moment. If they just kept their distance, it wouldn't have been so bad, but the lengths some of them would go to to obtain pictures of her regular life were almost disturbing! It was like being stalked, and each time it was a different animal who would follow her around creepily with a camera.

She'd even had to get burglar alarms because a few times some of the daring ones had even broken into her house! She'd sued each of them, of course, but they just kept coming. No matter where she went or what she did, even if it was as mundane as shopping for her own food, she couldn't count on a private moment. The thought that nearly anything she did would wind up for the world to see in some trashy magazine was a lot more stressful than she had originally assumed it would be.

Fortunately for her, she was rich. And if the money wasn't going towards some charity organization or to one of her concerts, it went to this garden. Her own, private, walled in with ten foot stone and barbed wire garden. And even if someone got on top of the wall, the barbed wire was electrified. They would _really_ need to accurately jump to pull it off.

And so it was that that afternoon she sat on one of her blankets completely by herself, enjoying the sun above her and being completely alone with nothing but her thoughts.

"Good afternoon!"

She let out a cry of surprise, whipping around to find herself face to face with the grinning muzzle of a black lion. She crawled backwards a step, her eyes wide from shock as the lion before her smirked smugly.

"What- hey! Who are you?! What are you doing here!?" She demanded, her voice squeaking from the sudden, and unwelcome, appearance of another mammal in her private garden.

"Well my dear, I'm Scar. Beside me are Banzai, Ed, and Nala." Replied the lion, still smirking at her. Gazelle, her jaw still hanging open from the surprise, noticed the animals that had been standing a little behind the black lion. A lioness and two hyenas were also grinning at her confidently.

And…. to her rather uncomfortable surprise, each of them were…. nude. Not one of them were wearing clothes, and in addition to that, all of them were standing on four legs instead of upright!

But more importantly, what in the world were they doing here?!

"Well- what are you doing here!" She said, swallowing audibly. "In my garden?!" The lion chuckled.

"Oh…. we're here to talk to you." He replied, his teeth flashing brilliantly in the sun. Gazelle responded with a half nod, still paralyzed with uncertainty. Their lack of clothes was still profoundly uncomfortable….

"You- you are? Well… you're trespassing on my property!" She replied, trying to shake off her fear. The lion raised an eyebrow.

"This is yours? Ah… we didn't know that." He shrugged. "And in any case, it doesn't matter. What's your name?"

Gazelle opened her mouth to answer, before the sheer absurdity of the question hit her. These mammals broke into her private garden and specifically approached her…. and yet, didn't know her name? Why else would anyone break into her garden and approach her seemingly without malice if not because…. because of who she was? An internationally famous pop star?

"Uh… what do you mean?" She asked, crinkling her nose as she edged away slightly. In response, the black lion stepped a little closer with a smirk.

"I think it's rather clear! I would like to know your name." He replied. Gazelle paused again before answering.

"It's…. it's Gazelle." She said. The black lion raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that a little redundant?" He asked.

"Well….. maybe…" She said meekly, trying to shrug. The lion was getting a little too close to her for comfort….

"Oh well. Redundant or not, you're going to help us." Replied Scar. "You see, we're in a little bit of a pickle, and we need your help."

"I- uh…. what sort of problem?" Stuttered Gazelle, inching away again. "Do you- do you need money?" She dearly hoped this wasn't a robbery or kidnapping….

"We might. I don't actually know what money is. Anyhow, we need to talk to you to figure out what we need, and then you're going to help us." He answered, his eyes glinting. Gazelle swallowed audibly again.

"How…. how do you need me to help you?" She asked, doing her best to stare back at the lion and his comrades.

"Just to talk." He answered. "And you'll be providing us with the answers we need. I ask you a question, you give me an answer. One question, one answer. I don't get the answer I like, we've got a problem. And if we have a problem…" He stepped forward again, his teeth flashing. "The you've got a problem."

Gazelle could feel the color draining from her face. What did… what did they mean to do to her?

"You're- you're threatening me?" She asked, summoning her courage. She couldn't allow herself to break down from simple fear, and she'd had more than enough practice standing up to angry fans…

"Not really." Shrugged Scar. "I've just always wanted to say that. And it's a matter of perspective. Of course, we do really need you to answer our questions. Hopefully they're basic."

"What questions?" Asked Gazelle, finally standing up in front of the lions and hyenas. She still wasn't over the fact that they were all nude, but none of them were making a point of it, so she resolved to ask them about it later.

"Very good." Grinned Scar. "Now then, where are we?"

Again, the absurdity of the question made her pause. How on earth could these animals be here, just outside of Zootopia, and…. not know where they were?

"How…. how could you not know that?" Asked Gazelle, squinting at them. Scar waved her off with a sigh.

"Just answer the question." He said, shooting a glare in her direction.

"We're outside of Zootopia." She answered. Scar nodded.

"What and where is Zootopia?" Asked Scar, cocking his head. Gazelle stared at them again, unsure if they were toying with her. Scar let out a growl. "Just answer the question!"

"Zootopia is west of here." She replied, still feeling confused. "And it's a city filled with all sorts of diverse mammals…"

"Just mammals?"

"Yes."

"All right…." Scar mumbled something to himself, then looked back up at her. "Are you familiar with a group of mammals, all kinds of species, that are covered in a sort of blue fur?"

"Blue fur? You mean… the police?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Possibly." He said. "Do police carry black tools that spit fire, and do they chase you around?"

"You- you're being pursued by the police?!" Exclaimed Gazelle, her eyes widening as she took a step back. These mammals were criminals! And they were here, in her garden while she was alone, easily able to outmuscle her!

"If the police are the blue clad mammals, then yes." Replied Scar, not looking particularly bothered. Gazelle felt panic rising in her chest ever so slightly, she would never be able to outrun then…. but if it came down to it, that was her only hope….

Then, a horrible thought ran through her head. Just the other day, there had been a breaking news report of… of a murder. A murder that had caused the lockdown of the jungle district….

"Did- did you guys kill a jaguar?" She asked, racking her brain as she tried to recall the details of the report…. In response, Scar shrugged.

"Yes, we did."

"You-" Gazelle felt choked, the panic that had been rising in her chest suddenly exploding. Here she was, defenseless, and faced with four killers! Her eyes darted around, trying desperately to see if there was any chance of an escape route…. as her heart began to pump frightfully, she took a shaky step away from the animals again. What was she to do?!

"Yes we did." He replied. "But rest assured, the whole affair was an accident. We didn't know the conventions of this world…"

"You're all crazy!" She cried, beginning to pale. None of the animals seemed even remotely bothered at the confirmation of her accusation that they had killed another mammal….

"Crazy is relative, my dear." Smirked Scar. "And between our worlds, the relation between the two is rather strained…."

"Our worlds! What are you talking about?!" She cried, stepping back again. The black lion frowned.

"Listen dear, we would really enjoy your cooperation. You see, without help, we have no chance of rescuing our…" He glanced at the one called Nala, who shot him a glare. "Our friends."

"I don't have to help you!" She retorted, summoning her bravery even through her shaking hooves.

"Well… you actually do." Replied Scar, looking very serious as he stepped forward again. "We can't let you escape to tell the blue clad mammals where we are, and we need someone with knowledge of what you call Zootopia. And you seem to be an excellent candidate, my dear…."

"So now you're kidnapping me?" She clarified.

"That was actually always the plan, so yes." He nodded. The lioness stepped forward, her gaze turning predatory. Gazelle, in a split second knew it was now or never, but as she tried to turn around and make a run for it, something slammed into her and pinned her to the ground.

The lioness stood on top of her, her paws on Gazelle's shoulders. She tried to move, but the immense, crushing wait didn't even allow her to wiggle. She looked back up at the lioness pinning her down, her eyes wide and afraid as she met the stern eyes of the lioness.

"Pinned ya." She said, with a dry chuckle.

"Don't worry." Said Scar, as he walked up beside them. "We won't actually hurt you unless we get into a situation that demands it. But I wouldn't count on that, not if you're a good enough guide…"

Gazelle swallowed nervously, still struggling to somehow get Nala's firm paws off her shoulders. After a few seconds of fruitless effort, she managed to reply.

"I…. I just have to guide you?" She asked, doing her best to keep her voice from shaking. To her pleasant surprise, she managed to keep her voice firm.

"Yes." He nodded. "And probably not much else."

"All- all right." She managed, doing her best to keep her panic down. They said they didn't mean to hurt her… that was good news… she would just…. have to be careful…

"All right Nala, let her up." Nodded Scar, as the lioness stepped back, taking her weight off her. Gazelle took a breath of relief, soaking in the air the lioness had squashed out of her.

"What now?" She asked, summoning her courage as she looked over at the black lion, the seeming leader of the group.

"Now you will lead us to Zootopia." He replied. "But keep in mind, you are now part of this group, like it or not. Your safety is now lumped in with our safety. Think of it like a nest, and we are all eggs. If we all stay inside the nest, we'll all be just fine. But if you decide to rock the nest….. we'll all fall out, and crack on the ground. _Especially_ your egg." He said, casting her an ominous glare before turning around.

"Now then!" He grinned, baring his teeth. "On to Zootopia!"

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"You say we have two of the four?" Asked Lionheart, leaning back on his chair as he listened to Bogo.

"We arrested two of the cannibals." Nodded the cape buffalo, his eyes hard as he stared back at the mayor. "Both of them are in the hospital for injuries sustained during a scuffle. The lion will be safe to move to his cell in a few days. The hyena is stable, but the the reports indicate she will not be able to move to her cell for a few weeks."

"And… the other four?" Asked Lionheart. Bogo paused for a moment, scowling.

"They got away scot free. Those sewers haven't had a proper revision for fifty years, and most maps of it are unreliable." He replied. Lionheart let out a sigh.

"That's…. that's a shame." He sighed, standing up on his paws. He turned and paced over to the window, looking out over the city. Bogo silently stared at him to the point that Lionheart could practically feel his glare. But that didn't matter….

"So, Chief Bogo, do you remember the last time the ZPD failed… this badly?" He mused, raising a paw to stroke his mane. He could almost feel the police Chief's gaze harden.

"What are you insinuating?" He growled.

"Oh, nothing!" Replied Lionheart, turning around to smirk at the buffalo. "I'm simply calling to mind the… oh, what was the name of the case? The Newton Heights Murders?"

"What about them?" He asked, his eyes narrowed with hostility.

"Just the horrendous failure to catch the killer. I was only a small lion at the time, but I remember the fear that ran through the city… and if there's anything I've learned from the nighthowlers, it's that when public opinion turns ugly…. they always need a scapegoat. Remind me, what happened to the Police Chief in charge during the Newton Heights Murders?" He looked back at Bogo, grinning smugly. Bogo's gaze hardened again, but he said nothing.

"Oh come on Bogo, you should know exactly what happened to him. You were his replacement."

"So now you're threatening me?" He growled, his deep voice thundering ominously from across the desk.

"Hardly!" Replied Lionheart, not missing a beat. "I'm actually going to offer you a solution, to give you some time to fix your mistakes before the public's fear has them clamoring for your resignation."

"And if I refuse?" Asked Bogo, glaring back at the lion.

"Nothing happens." He shrugged. "What I propose is simply a diversion. The public is afraid at the moment. The media has swelled this cannibalism murder to horrendous proportions, and everyone is afraid that any of them might be the next ones to die. Everyone remembers Newton Heights…. So all we need to do is take their minds off the issue. We need to give the public a spectacle. We need to give them righteous vengeance! We need to put the two animals you _actually_ managed to arrest on trial tomorrow."

Chief Bogo stared at him, his eyes narrowed. For a minute or two the room was silent, with Lionheart grinning confidently at the buffalo, and Bogo gazing back without a hint of uncertainty.

"Those animals can't go to trial tomorrow." He finally said.

"If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. But it will have to be soon, and it's going to have to be big, inflated by media attention I will draw to it. The public needs a scapegoat, and if it's not those animals, it's going to be either you or I. And neither of us want to be held responsible for failing…" He trailed off, silently repeating the earlier threat.

"But those criminals haven't even been processed yet, much less are they ready to be put on trial! And the hospital won't let go of animals that still need care!" He said, crinkling his nose in disgust.

"The hospital and the legal system can be twisted, ever so slightly, if necessary. This is for the public's good as much as ours. Those animals will be going on trial tomorrow or the day after, but it would be a lot easier if you gave your cooperation." Replied Lionheart, his voice hardening to a more serious tone for the first time. Bogo stared back at him, taking a few moments to think.

"And… as for the trail itself?" Asked Bogo, finally looking back up from his musings.

"Oh, that will be twisted too. I know a few people who would more than gladly do it for us…. the defense will be given a lawyer who will pretend to be incompetent, and while we can't fix the jury with so little time, the judge too will agree with us. And besides, who would side with cannibals!" He said, his grin becoming triumphant.

"I wouldn't either, but I've never had the stomach for a twisted trial." Spat Bogo.

"It is necessary." Smirked Lionheart. "I've never done anything if it wasn't for the public good, and I can assure you, putting the focus and the blame squarely at the paws of those cannibals is necessary! And besides, it would give you extra time to…. clean up your mistakes…."

"I'll catch the other four, you don't have to coerce me!" Snarled the buffalo, his eyes menacing.

"I'm only helping you." Shrugged Lionheart. "So, I take it you agree?"

"I agree." He replied, scowling down at the mayor. Lionheart grinned as Chief Bogo turned around and marched out the doors, slamming them behind him with a hint of finality. The mayor chuckled to himself as he took out a pen and a paper to begin writing a letter.

He had work to do.

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 **So I had some inspiration, and decided to throw Gazelle into the mix. I like it, and I think she'll make an excellent addition to our cast of characters, and I'm excited to do some more with her…..**

 **Rest assured, she won't be hurt. But she will have an important role to play before all is said and done….. and don't worry about Nick and Judy, they'll be back in the next chapter!**

 **You might want to worry about Simba and Shenzi though. Heh heh heh….**


	10. A Long Time Ago

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **So far, I think we're doing pretty good!**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just…. skip on over this.**

 **Rose: yeah, some authors don't pay too much attention to guest reviews. But I am not one of those authors! And also, thanks that you think this is one of the best crossovers you've read! I mean, I think it's the best, but that may just be me…**

 **And I'm very glad you're interested!**

 **MattTheCheetah/PhaseAwesomeness:**

 **I sent you a bunch of PM's! Please respond to them. If you're not sure how cause you're new to your account, on the desktop/Ipad version on the top right of the screen press your name. This will bring you to your account settings, and you should see your inbox. On the mobile version, on the top right of the screen, press the more button, and press the PM to see a list of messages.**

 **Anyhow… quick note, do you know how long it took to write that conversation between Scar and Gazelle? Three stinking drafts! I had to erase what I already had down like, three times! It just didn't fit each time….That's why this chapter is late….**

 **Here we go!**

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"The trial is _tomorrow_?!" Exclaimed Judy, her eyes widening from shock.

"Afraid so." Grumbled Nick, as he sat down next to Wolfard. Judy and Wolfard had been at their desks, filling out reports on the case from yesterday when Nick had returned from his lunch break.

The news from the hospital had been good, the hyena was stable and would likely recover in a few months. Unfortunately, that was with a few permanent injuries to her lungs, and a shattered shoulder that would require extreme care. The lion would be let out the day after tomorrow, with his wounds healing up fairly quickly. And on even better news, Fangmeyer's concussion was only mild.

They'd been sitting here in their office for the entire morning, working on reports. And this case had a lot of them, especially with all the different injuries and property damage to the pet shop… it was a paperwork nightmare.

While they sat here and did their homework, Judy had told Wolfard about the hyena, and he had agreed it was remarkably strange that the hyena was deformed. They'd both agreed that it was rather strange that all of the mammals they were hunting walked on four legs… and seemed comfortable doing it. The only mammals they knew of who had done that were…. well, at the natural history museum.

The grey wolf had promised to help them figure out why the animals were so deformed, only after they had finished their paperwork. And so they were sitting at their desks, filling out dozens of different forms, as Nick walked back in with the news.

"W-what did you say?" Asked Wolfard, his chair falling behind him as he shot up.

"I said the trial for the lion and hyena are tomorrow." Muttered Nick. "I saw it on the news, Mayor Lionheart made a big statement…. and I checked with Bogo, it's official."

"But- but those mammals haven't even been processed in the system yet!" Said Judy, her eyes wide as she stared at Nick.

"Well, they've just been processed, it seems!" Shrugged Nick, with a sarcastic smile. "And even better, they're going to be required to show up at the trial, in person!"

"In- in person?!" Exclaimed Judy, gaping at Nick. "But- but they haven't been released from the hospital yet! And- the hyena! The one I shot, she's hurt! She's hurt so had they aren't even supposed to move her!"

"I checked with Bogo." Said Nick, scowling. "He says his hooves are tied. They're going to have to show up at that trial, whether we like it or not. Or whether they're medically fit or not!"

"That's outrageous!" Cried Wolfard, his face contorted into incredulity. "Criminals or not- we can't hurt them, that's not what we do!"

"Well, we don't have a choice." Grumbled Nick. "Chief Bogo gave the OK and… we're going to be escorting the lion and the hyena to their courtroom tomorrow morning."

"But-"

"There's nothing we can do about it, carrots." Sighed Nick, as he leaned back in his seat. "Let's just…. finish this paperwork and call it a day."

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Nala eyed Gazelle as their guide stood up and looked around. They were hunched over in a ditch, having dived off the road at the sound of a rumbling Gazelle had told them was a car. With the grass tickling her belly, she grumbled to herself.

Progress had been rather slow. Gazelle had told them that the only routes she knew were along the black rocks, but had warned them that other mammals used the black rocks as places for their mechanical monsters to travel. And boy, had she been right. It felt like every five minutes that the sound of rumbling was heard, and they had to crouch down in the ditch to avoid being seen.

On the plus side, Gazelle didn't look like she was deliberately trying to lead them into any sort of trap. In fact, while she had been frightened near the beginning of their journey, as the day had worn on she'd become a little more comfortable. Nala noticed her voice hadn't yet stopped squeaking though, even if she answered Scar with a little more surety. Still, none of them trusted her, and even Ed knew to keep a close eye on her just in case she tried to give them the slip...

Of course, that hadn't happened yet, and they'd spent most of their day padding along the black rock. The sun had been hot and the breeze had been negligible, but they'd still made progress towards the place Gazelle had told them they'd first been. Apparently it had been a very large gathering place for all species of creatures called Zootopia, and that's where they'd left Simba and Shenzi behind.

"All clear?" Growled Scar, his voice sounding annoyed as usual as he glared up at the gazelle.

"All clear." Replied Gazelle, turning back to nod at them. Nala stood up to stretch her legs again as Banzai jumped back onto the road.

"Good! Let's get going again, Shenzi is that way!" Grinned Banzai, as he started to pad down the black rock.

"Ah… not so fast Banzai." Yawned Scar, as he left the grass.

"What?" Asked the hyena, looking back at Scar. The black lion flicked his tail.

"The sun's going down." He said. "I know hyenas are strange, but generally most animals would go to sleep around now."

"Maybe, but we haven't rescued Shenzi yet! We have to keep going! Until we do!" He retorted, turning his head back to the road to continue walking.

"Well, the rest of us are tired." Growled Scar, narrowing his eyes at Banzai. Nala flicked her ears as the hyena didn't stop, continually padding down the black rock and away from them. Now that Scar mentioned it, her paws did feel a little tired.

"Well, Shenzi needs our help!" He called back, not turning his head.

"And we need a guide to go anywhere! What are you going to do without Gazelle, huh? Get captured?" Snarled Scar, as he stepped in front of Gazelle. Banzai looked back at them with a glare, and Gazelle took an apprehensive step back. She clearly didn't want to be caught in the middle of anything...

"I- but…. Shenzi needs our help." Squeaked Banzai, sitting down on the road. Nala flicked her ears.

"And I want to help Simba." She said, stepping forward. "He means as much to me as Shenzi does to you, but most of us need to sleep… come on Banzai, I know you're tired."

"I'm not tired, and I won't rest until we rescue Shenzi!" Snapped Banzai, stamping his paw.

"Face the facts, you imbecile!" Snarled Scar. "Gazelle is staying here with us, and you can't waltz into the city without her! Just get some rest, and you'll be much more able to rescue Shenzi in the morning!"

"Yeah, Banzai…. just get some rest." Added Nala, with Ed nodding his agreement. Banzai stared at the, for a moment, clearly muttering curses under his breath so they couldn't hear. But after a moment, he let out a sigh and stood back up to walk back over to them.

"Fine." He grumbled, glaring down at the ground. "Let's get some sleep."

"Good! Now then, Gazelle…" Scar turned over to their guide, who cocked her head as she waited for his question. "Is there any place near here that we could use to retire for the night? Think carefully, we can't be discovered…"

"Well…. tomorrow is sunday." Said Gazelle, licking her lips nervously as she tried to think. "That means there will be less mammals about, and many places won't open early, if at all. We could hide behind a gas station, and not be discovered."

"If you say so." Snorted Scar, not pretending to know what she was referring to. "Take us there, as quickly as you can."

She nodded, and began running down the road. They quickly padded after her, with Gazelle checking behind her back every few moments to make sure they were still there.

The sun had set by the time they arrived at the place Gazelle had described as a gas station. To Nala it looked like some sort of trashy dump, nothing like the organization of the garden they had been in just that morning. But there were no creatures around, and no metallic monsters either. Other than the crickets, no sound was heard.

"And… if we just hang out back here, we should… probably… be good." Said Gazelle, as they padded around to the back of the building. Nala looked over the area, crinkling her nose as she did. It looked even more messy, with colorful papers scattered all over the stone. There were even large green metallic boxes in front of them,

"Very well, get some sleep everyone." Grunted Scar, as he padded up to one of the green boxes and peered inside.

"Those are dumpsters." Said Gazelle. "And they look empty…. you could hide in those."

"Is it safe?" Asked Nala.

"Well… I mean, it should be…" She shrugged, trying to smile. "If they're empty, then they're probably not in use… I mean, I think so…"

"Then we'll use them." Said Scar. "Nala, Banzai, Ed, you take that one." He raised a paw and pointed at one of the boxes. "I will have this one, and Gazelle will be sleeping with me to ensure she doesn't get any ideas about escaping…."

With that, Scar turned around and hopped on in. Banzai and Ed scampered up into another one, leaving Gazelle to look a little confused next to Nala.

"Uh… do I just… get in?" She asked, looking down at the lioness while gesturing to Scar's green rock.

"Yup." Replied Nala. As Gazelle gave a quick nod, Nala paused.

"By the way… Scar's grumpy when he's tired. If I was you, I would try not to cross any lines…. just you know… avoid his claws." Said Nala, with a dry chuckle.

"Uh…. well… I sorta planned on doing that anyways." Replied Gazelle, with an awkward smile.

"Yeah." Nala shrugged "Well… goodnight." She said, before turning around and jumping in after the hyenas.

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Gazelle watched the lioness hop into the dumpster with the hyenas, and she flicked one of her ears.

This was, without a doubt, the strangest thing that had ever happened, or likely would ever happen to her. Here she was, just having been kidnapped by a group of animals that had promised not to harm her, and needed her not for her fame or money, but rather….. to be a guide. A guide, of all things! It really stuck out to her was that apparently…. these animals really had no idea what they were doing.

She'd had to explain what different things were several times, and answer a whole lot of questions about why on earth any animal would want to ride around in a mechanical monster that swallowed them each time they were used. Despite their resolve, their naivety was astounding, leaving Gazelle with much more questions than she herself had been made to answer.

Gazelle was just... curious more than anything. For the moment it looked like she was stuck with these animals, whether she liked it or not. And since they weren't going to hurt her, she desperately wanted to ask some questions. She didn't have a doubt in her mind that they were untrustworthy…. but like any sane mammal, she wanted to understand her situation.

But first-

"Are you coming, or not?" Came an annoyed voice. She turned around to see Scar standing up in the dumpster, his paws on the edge of the metal to support himself. She hiccuped a little, he didn't look happy.

"Yes, of course!" She said quickly, nodding to the black lion. Giving her one last glare, he drew back and disappeared back inside the green container to leave Gazelle staring after him. Deciding there really wasn't anything for it, Gazelle walked up to it and braced herself to enter… yeach, it looked so filthy…. she had been fond of these clothes, too…

She grabbed the top of the dumpster and hauled herself up, putting her legs over the other side and jumping in. She landed inside to find Scar still glaring at her, his green eyes glinting in the twilight of dusk. She swallowed nervously, sitting down opposite to the dark lion.

Then, Scar sighed and stood up in front of her. He looked down at her with the constantly annoyed look Gazelle figured she would be getting used to, and cleared his throat.

"All right, get under me."

"Ec- Excuse me?!" Exclaimed Gazelle, her eyes widening as she drew away from him. Scar's eyes narrowed.

"You heard me the first time." He growled, raising a paw to show her his unsheathed claws. "Get under me."

"What! What for?!" She cried, doing her best not to let horrible conclusions enter her brain.

"Because…" Scar snarled at her. "First of all, I can't let you escape tonight. And second of all, I value my own sleep. Therefore, if I don't want to watch you all night and lose my sleep, I will simply let my own weight keep you where you should be. That simple."

Gazelle stared at him for a few more moments, her jaw agape. He… he couldn't really be serious, could he?

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Asked Scar, narrowing his eyes at her. She gulped.

"Well- I mean- I'm going!" She managed, doing her best to steel herself. She couldn't help but keep glancing at his claws, and how… sharp they looked. Scar kept glaring at her as she chuckled nervously, scooting forward until she was underneath his chest. She looked up at him apprehensively, but Scar didn't growl again. Instead he lowered himself down slowly, until his torso covered the majority of her body.

She looked up at him with a nervous chuckle, trying to wiggle to get comfortable. Scar looked down back at her, the bored look in his eyes almost intensifying as they stared at each other for a few awkward moments.

"You know, you can stop oggling at me." He finally said, breaking the silence. Gazelle nearly hiccuped.

"Oggling? I wasn't oggling!" She replied quickly, a jolt of fear shooting through her.

"Yes, yes you were." Replied the black lion, still glaring at her. "And you can stop it, I'm not going to cut your throat while you sleep."

"I... wasn't saying you were!" She said, trying to pass her nervousness off with an awkward chuckle.

"You were thinking it." He said, raising an eyebrow. "And you can stop acting so skittish, you know we need you. Why would we hurt you when you're so vital to what we're trying to accomplish?"

Gazelle stared at him, taking a moment to pause. Was… he being serious? Despite everything he'd said so far being practical and well reasoned…. he was actually wondering why she was nervous?

"You… you guys killed a jaguar." She blurted out, unable to hold the statement back. It had been in the back of her head during the entire day, and no matter what she'd been unable to push it away. The fact that… her kidnappers were also killers…. put her on edge. What if they decided to…. kill her, after they were done with her?

"Ah…. Well, I can see how that might worry you." He grumbled, rolling his eyes. "But it was an accident."

"An accident?!" She squeaked.

"Yes, an accident." He replied. "You see… where we come from, killing animals is routine."

" _Routine_?!"

"Don't panic. Yes, it's routine, but it's because we need to eat food. I don't know where predators here get their meals from, but our world is not so advanced as yours. Our only source of nourishment is the meat of other animals, and so that's what we eat." He said, as he stared down at her with a rather bored look.

"But- you killed another animal." She squeaked, his cold logic not soothing the pit in her stomach. Food or not…. what justified murder?

"Yes, we did. But you have to understand the difference in our worlds. If we don't kill…. we ourselves will die. And… it's all connected." He paused. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it's part of a 'circle of life'"

"A circle of life?" She asked, not taking his meaning.

"Yes. We eat the herds, which in turn eat the grass. If we did not eat the herds, there would be too many of them, and they would eat all the grass. This would then result in the herds dying too, and in the end nothing lives. Do you understand? It's a balance, that we are part of." As he spoke, he looked rather annoyed, as if he was recalling something he wasn't fond of. Gazelle didn't know why, but his explanation seemed to…. upset him.

"But… all of that, you still kill animals." She said. "You take their lives…."

"Just listen to yourself, will you?" Grumbled Scar. "Our worlds are nothing alike. Yours is much, much more advanced, you are past the need to kill other mammals. We are not. With us, it's a necessity. With you, it's a horror. Do you understand that?"

"I…" Gazelle swallowed again, stopping herself from saying anything. She stayed silent, absorbing what he had said.

"Then… what sort of world are you even from?" She finally asked, looking back up at him.

"One without machines. One without guns or clothes or even large organization. Compared to all that you creatures have accomplished it is… primitive. "He explained. "That is why our only food is other creatures. It is a world that is completely without tools…. of any kind."

"No tools? Not even like…. stone knives?" She asked, thinking back to her history class. Stone tools had come first…. but as she glanced down at his paw, it didn't look like it could hold anything, much less a hammer or knife.

"No tools." He said. "None at all."

"So it's …. it's like a million years ago?" She asked.

"I don't know. What was a million years ago like?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… it was like… like what you're describing." She said. "It was a primitive time, and…. there were no tools. Animals ate each other for food… and, well… they walked on four legs. Like you do." She said, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Ah. Then we're probably from there." He shrugged. Gazelle shook her head.

"But that doesn't make any sense! If you're from there, how…. how are you here?" She asked, feeling confused. "You'd need a time machine to get from here to there… and those don't exist!"

"I told you, I don't know." Huffed Scar. "I have no earthly idea as to how we got here, you got that?"

"I- but there has to be a reason… I mean, just from your physical builds, it would make sense that you're…. well… very very different from us…"

"And I'm telling you I don't know the reason we're here." Replied Scar. "I don't know how or why."

"But…"

"Look, it doesn't matter. The fact of the situation is that we're here now, and we're in one heck of a mess. And you… are helping us fix that mess."

"Heh… yeah, I guess I am." She replied, with an awkward chuckle. "You're really in a jam… and you guys were thrust here without warning?"

"Like I said, we have no idea how we got got here, or why." He shrugged. "And yes, it was rather sudden. And now, as punishment for our ignorance, two of our… well, I'll call them friends, have been captured, and the rest of us are here, on the run from the police. It's just… wonderful." He finished sarcastically.

"Well…. maybe you'll get a break eventually." She said, not sure of what else to say. Scar's version of events was rather…. well, convincing. Especially since his own body fit the story he was telling…

"Ha! I'm on the biggest streak of bad luck you've ever seen!" He snorted. "I don't think it'll break anytime soon."

"Well…." She paused, licking her lips in thought. It looked like despite it all… these animals weren't really killers after all. At least… they hadn't mean to do what they did. They were just unfortunate victims of circumstance… mammals who couldn't even control their own surroundings.

"Virtue has it's own reward." She finally said. Scar stared down at her for a moment, his expression passive.

"If only I were virtuous." He shrugged, setting his head down next to hers.

"Goodnight."

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 **Okay, so some more real stuff will happen next chapter….. but I hope you all still liked this one. Tell me what you thought of it!**


	11. From Predator To Prey

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **So far, I think we're doing pretty good!**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just…. skip on over this.**

 **FightLionGo: if you really do feel that way, I do think you'll find the rest of this story interesting….**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

 **QUICK DISCLAIMER, I'm not a doctor, and don't know very much about medical topics anyways. I tried not to bullsh*t anything, but if anything with Shenzi or Simba's wounds doesn't line up with real life… oh well. Please don't hate me for it, but I can't imagine I'm too far off the mark on any of her wounds….**

 **Oh, and ANOTHER quick disclaimer, I wrote this on a plane! So I couldn't look up exactly how a trial goes. I'm almost certainly going to bullsh*t that part, no matter how hard I try to make it match up with real life. I'm very sorry about that, but to be honest, I don't think most of you will care if I leave out certain boring procedures just because I didn't know they existed.**

 **At this point, I'm making things up for the trial. But it'll still essentially function the same as a normal trial.**

 **so…. Here we go!**

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"Hello, nurse…. Siri!" Said Judy, stepping up to the lioness as she squinted at her nametag.

"Hello Officers!" Smiled the lioness. Siri was the nurse that had been in charge of Simba ever since they'd brought the murderous lion into the hospital. She'd been the one that had taken care of him while he was strapped to the hospital bed, given the responsibility of feeding him and changing his bandages. And now she was here as his medical supervisor, which the hospital had agreed to send to the trial as their part of the deal that released both criminals from the hospital.

The criminal lion himself stood beside her on all fours, a low, angry growling heard from behind his muzzle. Of course, he was safely restrained, with shackles matching his body's physique being made before he had been released from the hospital bed. Steel rings had been locked around his legs, with chains connected between each one to effectively hobble any attempts to run. A muzzle had been tightened around his jaws, clamping his mouth shut. Paw mitts had been pulled onto his paws, robbing him from his ability to use his claws. And to finish it off, a collar with a chain was around his neck, being held by a rhino behind him. The only thing about the setup that wasn't intimidating were the bandages on his shoulders and legs.

But he certainly wasn't going to escape.

"Yeah, hi, we're uh… we're here to escort the lion and the hyena to Court." Replied Judy, as Simba glared at them and made the only noise he could, an angry growl. She ignored it, of course, she wasn't here to talk to him. She, Nick, Wolfard, and a puma called Alex were the officers assigned to help escort the criminals from the hospital.

Due to their…. particularly violent history, it had been decided that the utmost care be put into their transfer, which meant several officers and most certainly warranted the restraints on the lion. The officers that had been assigned to guard the different hospital rooms would be coming too, making a total of eight policemen on the escort to the trial.

"Hey!" The nurse, Siri, turned to look over at the shackled lion and put her paws on her hips in response to his growling. Then, she continued in a tone Judy could only describe as if Siri was a mother scolding her child. "I told you, no growling! You'll only make it worse for yourself if you growl at the police, you know."

Simba rolled his eyes, but ceased his angry snarling and turned to stare down at the ground stubbornly. Judy turned back to the nurse, holding back a chuckle.

"Has he been any trouble?" She asked. The lioness shook her head.

"Oh no, he's been very good." She replied. "He let us restrain him, and didn't tug on his chains."

"We only had to put a gun to his head first." Snorted the rhino behind her. Siri rolled her eyes.

"Well, I think he's been doing good so far." She huffed. "He didn't roar anymore after he woke up again, he's learned his lesson about that. Isn't that right?" She asked, turning back at the chained lion. Unable to speak, Simba only stamped his paw against the ground in silent protest.

"Yeah, he's learned his lesson, and he knows not to struggle." Nodded Siri. "He's ready to go to the trial…. I even told him exactly what he needs to do while he's there."

"You already told him what he needs to do at the trial?" Asked Judy, cocking an eyebrow. Truth be told, they hadn't really planned on briefing the lion…. the trial had come so quick, they were just thrusting him into the courtroom and letting his lawyer deal with him. Under police guard of course…

"Yeah. We spent the night talking. Well, he wasn't very talkative, but… I was." Replied Siri. "I made sure he knew the proper etiquette for these sorts of things…. But I do have to ask, why is the trial so early? His bandages still need a few more changes before he's really fit for release…"

"Uh- do they?" Asked Nick, flicking one of his ears as he looked over the lion in front of him. Simba glared right back..

"Yeah. I mean, that's why I'm here." Said Siri, as she looked over the officers. "To finish Simba's treatment even while he's at the trial…."

"Yeah, that's the reason you're here." Nodded Wolfard. "And we'll be part of Simba's guard so you can rest easy while we're around."

"Oh, Simba won't hurt me." Said Siri, shaking her head. "But you can't interfere with my job, if I need to treat Simba, I will treat him, no matter what's happening during the trial."

"Well…." Judy frowned. "Just try not to create any problems…"

"The way I see it, this trial is what caused the problem. Simba isn't fit for release, and neither is the hyena. Any problems I cause by treating him in the middle of the trial is the city's own fault." Huffed Siri.

"Oh yeah.. where's the hyena?" Asked Wolfard, glancing around. Siri narrowed her eyes at him and Judy sighed, preparing for another self righteous rant.

"Well, I'll have you know that her condition is very serious!" She retorted. "She's stable, but that's in a comfortable, hospital bed environment. Moving her anywhere, especially to a hostile, stress filled environment is dangerous!"

"That's not our call." Replied Judy, flashing the lioness an apologetic look. "The trial is happening, and the criminals need to be present for it…"

"Well, make sure you all are aware that their medical safety will take priority." Retorted Siri, crossing her arms. "The hyena will be here when she's ready."

"Of course, but… when is that?" Asked Wolfard, as he glanced at his watch. "We're a little early, but we'll have to leave within a half hour…"

"Like I said, she'll be here when she's ready to be moved." Replied the nurse. "They're preparing her, but she's delicate…."

"What exactly were the wounds?" Asked Judy, recalling the night she'd shot the hyena. The doctor had mentioned a bullet had damaged her lungs, and shattered her shoulder…

"One of her lungs has neary collapsed, and she's on oxygen." Answered Siri. "The bones in her shoulder are broken, to the point that it'll never heal correctly. She might stop feeling pain a few months from now, but her arm won't work the same at all. And of course the damaged lung will make life difficult anyways…"

As Judy felt a little guilt enter her conscience again, she noticed that Simba was frowning. The lion looked up at the nurse as she spoke, his eyes narrowed angrily. He let out another growl, hardly muffled by the muzzle around his jaws.

"Hey!" Siri looked back down at Simba, with her scolding tone resuming. "I told you not to growl! You'll make a bad impression on the animals who decide your fate if you're always angry!"

But the lion didn't stop, and turned towards the rhino that held the chain restraining him. Simba took a step forward and growled louder, clearly angry at the news the lioness gave. Judy could feel her paw reaching down to her gun belt, as the rhino took a step away from the lion and drew his own gun.

"Don't even think about it." Said the rhino, scowling as he jammed his pistol at Simba's face. The lion halted, still glaring back at the officer as he stared down the barrel.

"Simba! You're letting me down, what did we talk about?" Said Siri, stepping up next to the criminal as she grabbed the chain from the rhino. "Your friend will live, now start behaving!"

She pulled on the chain to drag him back to where he'd been, and the lion resisted, digging his paws into the cement as the nurse tried to move him. The rhino stepped forward, waving his gun threateningly at the lion. None of the other officers moved, the lion, in his present state, was clearly no match for the rhino.

"If you strain yourself, you'll reopen your wounds again!" Said Siri, as she tugged at the unrelenting lion. Then, Judy twirled her ears, as another sound reached her.

Almost as one, the officers and Simba turned to look at the hospital doors as they were pushed open. They stared at the animals as they came out, with two more police behind another nurse pushing a hospital bed on wheels. And on the hospital bed was the hyena, lying on her back.

There was a mask on her muzzle, with tubes connected to a machine behind her that fed her oxygen. One of her paws had an IV taped to it, the little tube hooked up inside her paw. Her chest was covered with white bandages and stitches, with the leg and shoulder that Judy had shot covered in tape and pads. She had no restraints anywhere on her, but it definitely didn't look like she needed any.

As they wheeled the bed up next to the ambulance they were going to transport her in, the rest of the group stared at her. Her eyes were shut tight, and she wheezed i to the respirator as the bed came to a stop.

"Hello officers…." Said the nurse, turning to eye the police with hostility. Judy bit her lip, it looked like the doctors _really_ didn't like being forced to let go of their patients…

"Hey." Said Nick, stepping forward as the sound of the hyena wheezing began to set in. "Is she… is she ready to be moved?"

"No." Scowled the nurse, an okapi. "She's not. But she's here anyways, as per the court's orders."

"Could she take a car ride?"

"Maybe." He muttered, glaring at Nick.

"Well… let's get moving then." Said Wolfard, looking over at the other officers that were assembled around them. "You three, take a squad car, you two, do the same, and officer Hopps, Rhendon, and Wilde will accompany me in the van. We're in no rush, but we're going directly to the courthouse, so no dilly dallying. Sirens are unnecessary. Take your cars." Finished the wolf, before turning around and heading to the van behind him.

As the different police spread out to their vehicles, Siri gently tugged on Simba's chain to lead him towards the van. The lion didn't resist this time, and the rhino followed behind them with his pistol still out as Siri jumped up into the van. While Simba climbed up into it, Wolfard helped the Okapi to pick up the bed the hyena was on. The carefully placed the wounded mammal into the van, and Judy hopped up into the van with Nick.

Wolfard jumped back out to get to the front of the van and closed the doors behind him. Siri sat down on one of the benches, still holding the chain on Simba's collar as the lion looked around apprehensively. The car started, and the sound of the engine made Simba flinch from the sudden noise.

"It's just the car." Chuckled Siri, looking over at the lion. "Not a gunshot."

In response, Simba only turned to glare at the lioness. Then the van rocked as it began to move, and the lion fell over, losing his balance with a surprised look on his face. Judy raised an eyebrow as the lion stood back up, his paws shaking from the moving van.

"You might want to sit down." Said Siri, as Nick snickered quietly next to Judy. Simba shook his head, resolutely spreading his paws out as far as the chains would allow him to to stay standing as the van continued moving.

"Well, just know you might fall down again." Siri said, just as the van went over the speed bump. Unable to catch his fall, Simba fell forward onto his face again, a loud thud and the shaking of chains heralding the end of his awkward descent.

Nick snickered even louder as Simba stood up again, snarling in frustration. He cast Judy and Nick a glare, and ,carefully this time, padded towards the bed the hyena was on. As Nick finished up his snickering and turned away to talk to the rhino, Judy and Siri stared at Simba.

The lion went as far as the chain in Siri's paws would allow him. He looked up at the bed the hyena was on, tilting his head as he did. As they watched, the hyena slowly opened one of her eyes, and weakly turned her head towards Simba while she continued to wheeze into the respirator.

The lion and the stared at each other, neither of which were able to say a word. Judy and Siri stayed silent, watching the silent exchange as the animals looked each other over. The hyena barely moved her head, but her eyes moved over Simba, while the lion made several gestures, most of which included tilting and shaking his head.

It was almost pathetic, seeing their attempts to communicate while one was too weak to move her head, and niether could speak. Next to Judy, the lioness let out a slow sigh of sympathy. For a short second, Judy found herself agreeing with the lioness, something about the scene made her pity the animals…

But then she stopped herself. They were murders, and she remembered exactly what they had done to their victim. Right now, the van was heading towards the place where their sentence would be handed down, and justice would be rightfully served.

She looked down at her lap, staying silent as the sounds of the engine, the quiet chatter between Nick and the rhino, and the hyena's pitiful wheezing filled her ears.

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"So…. what you're trying to tell me is that the world…. is round?"

"Yeah! There's this force called gravity, and it pushes in on everything in the universe." Said Gazelle, as they padded down the empty road.

They'd started back off towards Zootopia early that morning, as soon as the sun had risen over the trees. They'd been walking for a few hours now, and the sun was up above in its noon position as they made their way across the countryside. Gazelle had suggested taking the beaten road they were on currently, it was much smaller and more worn, but there were a lot less cars to hide from.

Banzai was at the front, impatiently dragging them forward as fast as he could. Ed was trotting directly behind him, leaving Gazelle in the center of the rear, with Scar and Nala on either side of her. To pass the time, Scar had begun asking her questions about the world of Zootopia, and of course, she'd answered them. But as time wore on, Scar had become more and more interested in asking her about how the world worked, rather than how they could sneak around the city.

"Gravity? What's that?" Asked the black lion, cocking an eyebrow. Gazelle chuckled, for all of Scar's sinister looks and complexion, when it came to learning new things he really lightened up.

"It's a force. Everything has it, even the smallest of bugs. But the biggest things have a lot of it, and what gravity does is it pulls in on them so hard from all sides, that it makes them round."

"But the world isn't uniform." Asked Scar. "There's mountains, and valleys and ravines…. if there really was a force pushing in on everything, wouldn't all this be flat?"

"It's not that strong." Smiled Gazelle. "It's been pushing in for millions of years, and slowly over that time, most of the rock grouped in as it is now. But it just isn't strong enough to make smaller things, like mountains, as flat as a plain."

"But mountains aren't small." Added Nala, crinkling her nose. The lioness had been listening in for most of the conversation, but had rarely spoken up. "They're huge."

"Yes, but it's…. like, in comparison to the world, they're small." Replied Gazelle, looking down at the lioness. "Do you know how big the world is?"

"No idea." Answered Nala, shaking her head.

"Well…. it's huge." She shrugged. "Thousands of miles around, and a mile is….. like, we've only walked a few miles this morning."

"So, to be clear…. if we were to go in one direction, and one direction only…. would we eventually, inevitably, wind right back up where we started?" Asked Scar. Gazelle grinned as she looked over at him, she could practically see the wheels in his head turning.

"Yeah, just like that. The world is a ball…. or in your case, the closest thing you would have had is an egg. A round egg."

"Wait, how's the world an egg? You lost me." Mumbled Nala. Scar huffed, and rolled his eyes.

"It's a metaphor, Nala dear….." He said, smirking over at the lioness.

"Hey!" Banzai's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. Gazelle, Scar, and Nala all looked up at the hyena, who was glaring back at them grumpily. "Stop talking about meta-whatsits, and walk faster!"

"We're working on it…." Growled Scar, eyeing Banzai as the hyena turned back to the road. The moment Banzai looked away, Scar looked back up at Gazelle, the growl gone from his voice.

"So how can you tell the world is round?" He immediately asked, his hostility gone. Gazelle smiled.

"Well… there are complex mathematical equations that prove it… but the easiest way to tell is because when we look back down at the earth, we can see that it's a sphere."

"Er… look back down?" Scar raised an eyebrow, and then glanced around at the area surrounding them. "It still looks flat to me…"

"Of course it does." Chuckled Gazelle, amused by his confusion. "We're too close, and the earth is too big."

"Well….Do we need to stand on top of a mountain?"

"No, you silly lion!" Giggled Gazelle, still smiling. "We look at it from space."

"Space?" Scar asked, still confused. "What space?"

"The space above us…. think of it as the sky. That sky is empty, and as you go further up into the sky, the emptier it gets. But if you go far enough, you can see that the world curves beneath you…. You see it's a sphere."

"Would we have to ask a bird what it's like?" He asked, trying to think.

"Birds don't go high enough. We use things called rockets that take us extremely high up…. they're the only things that can go that high, high enough to see the world is round."

"That's incredible." Muttered Scar, as he looked up at the clouds.

"And wacky." Grumbled Nala, not even pretending to have understood what she had just heard."

"No, no, it makes sense." Said Scar, looking back down at the ground. "These things you're telling me….. they make sense when I think about it. But I would never have come up with any of those ideas on my own."

"Well… it is sorta advanced stuff." Shrugged Gazelle.

"And yet you seem to understand it perfectly. You're rather smart, Gazelle." Said Scar.

Gazelle looked over at the black lion, raising an eyebrow. Something had been off with what he had just said…. yet he looked back at her with a perfectly serious look, no malice in his eyes.

"Er… Scar? Where's the sarcasm?" Asked Nala, voicing Gazelle's thoughts.

"What sarcasm?" Asked Scar, looking over at Nala.

"I mean the sarcasm and air of superiority that has never _ever_ left your voice in all the years I've ever known you?" Said Nala, squinting at him.

"What do you mean? There's no need for sarcasm here." He said, casting her a confused look.

"Isn't there always, when it comes to you?"

"Well, not here, in this moment. What Gazelle is telling me is truly interesting and thoughtful…. not my fault if you can't understand the higher level stuff." He said, his muzzle twisting into a smirk.

"There it is. I think he took a five second break." Muttered Nala, rolling her eyes.

"It was a little longer than five seconds, my dear." Grinned Scar, before looking back up at Gazelle.

"But long enough." Said Gazelle, looking back at Scar with a little smile. The lion shrugged, a confident smirk on his face. Gazelle liked this Scar much more than the one yesterday…. this one wasn't grinning evily at her, it wasn't looking at her as if she was the biggest problem in the whole world…. he was just… smiling. Well, smirking, but it was so much more natural than a growl…. Gazelle could feel herself relax as she and Scar stared at each other for a short moment, before Scar broke off and looked back ahead.

She didn't feel threatened by them anymore… after getting to know them, they didn't seem nearly as bad. Who knew opinions could change so quickly, with the proper information?

"Guys! Guys, look at that!" Cried Banzai, suddenly stopping short. Ed bumped into him, awkwardly falling backwards onto his rump as Gazelle quickly stopped behind them. Gazelle, Scar, Nala, and Ed all looked up to where Banzai was staring, and the animals on four legs let out gasps.

"That…. is Zootopia." Smiled Gazelle, putting her hooves on her hips.

"That was built… by you creatures?" Asked Nala, as she gaped at the skyscrapers off in the distance, just behind the trees.

"Yeah. That's where thousands of us live." Replied Gazelle.

"It looks like some sort of wierd mountain!"

"I guess." Chuckled Gazelle, as she looked at the city with a feeling of pride. "We're almost there."

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"The honorable Judge Grizzly presiding!"

The packed courtroom stood up, the sound of the floor creaking filling the room for a moment. A grizzly bear entered the courthouse, his paws folded behind his back as he walked up the center aisle. All eyes were on him as he padded up the stairs to the head of the room, and sat down at his seat in front of the podium.

"This courtroom is now in session." He growled, picking up the gavel and banging it against the wood. A dull roar filled the courtroom again as everyone sat down, still facing the judge.

Judy was next to Simba, feeling a little nervous. For a cop, she'd spent very little time in any courtroom, and now she was here at one of the most important trials in her lifetime, with all of Zootopia's eyes on it. All she had to do was guard the lion and the hyena, but she still glanced around nervously.

Up against one of the walls, several news station cameras were lined up, a tangle of wiring covering their corner. The trial had been heavily publicized by Lionheart, and in a statement the mayor had given yesterday, he had framed it as the city's revenge for the hideous crime they had committed.

And Zootopia had agreed that the crime was hideous, since cannibalism was one of the biggest and worst taboos anything could have. It was spitting on progress, it was spitting on their evolution, and it was spitting on the very dignity of every living mammal. And since the Newton Height's murders twenty five years ago…. everyone feared it.

And now that a similar murder had taken place, the city had been gripped with fear. And they had turned here, with two of the animals that had committed the crime in their power. Judy could feel that the city was angry, she could feel that this courtroom was… agitated. Zootopia was hungry for justice to be served.

A male gazelle in a suit stood up next to the podium, and cleared his throat.

"This Courtroom will now hear the case of The State versus Simba Lion and Shenzi Hyena. Are there any opening statements?"

The courtroom was silent.

"Then let the Prosecution state their case." Said the gazelle, before sitting back down.

"Yes, thank you!" Said a cheetah, standing up at the booth opposite Simba and Shenzi's. Behind him several other mammals in suits were grinning, all of them lawyers hired by the state. Judy knew why they looked happy, this was going to be the easiest money they ever made. "Thank you sir. Now then…."

He paused, pretending to take his time as he took out several pieces of paper.

"Sorry, it's a long list." Said the cheetah, with a straight face. His companions behind him grinned a little wider.

"Right. Now then, the Defense is being charged with the following….Two counts of Trespassing! Two counts of Breaking and Entering! Several counts of Destruction of Property! Several counts of Theft! Failure to obey a police officer! Failure to adhere to arrest! Several counts of Violence, including but not limited to the hospitalization of Officers Withers, Carrols, and Douglas! And of course…" He lowered his paper and paused for a moment. "Three counts of Murder."

The packed courtroom seemed to inhale at once, all eyes turning up towards the judge again. The grizzly bear, his eyes hard and stoic, stared back at the cheetah.

"Noted." He growled, before glancing back at the gazelle, who stood back up.

"Is the prosecution finished?" He asked.

"We are." Nodded the Cheetah, sitting back down.

"Then how does the defense plead to such charges?" Asked the Gazelle, extending a hoof and gesturing at Judy's booth. Simba was busy glaring at everyone around him as Judy took out a key, reaching up to the muzzle around Simba's jaws.

She and Wolfard took off the muzzle, both of them tensed in case Simba tried anything. Behind them, Nick and a puma stood ready, holding pistols. Simba didn't move, but Judy could hear him growl under his breath, something about biting the next animal who tried to muzzle him.

Their defense layer, a tiger, stood up next to them, holding a bunch of papers in his paws. He elbowed Simba, dropping a few papers to ground on accident as he did so.

"You have to say innocent. Say innocent!" Whispered the tiger, sounding a little frantic before quickly bending back down to retrieve the papers he'd dropped. Simba frowned at the tiger, and shifted his weight in confusion.

The courtroom stayed silent, everyone's gaze having moved over to the lion in rapt attention.

"Remember, best behavior, or they won't believe a word you say." Muttered Siri, as she stood behind Simba.

"Uh… i-innocent?" Tried Simba, clearly unsure of what was going on.

"And the hyena?" Asked the gazelle, his hooves folded behind his back. The Okapi nurse leaned over Shenzi, and gently took her oxygen mask off as he whispered something to him. Shenzi drew in a wheezing breath before letting out a cough, and a weak cough at that.

She paused a few more moments, still drawing rattling breaths. The Okapi began to look agitated, fingering the oxygen mask. Then, Shenzi spoke.

The okapi leaned over as the hyena rasped something out. The courtroom was deathly silent, and yet even Judy's ears could hardly hear that anything was being said. The okapi looked back out, blinking.

"What did she say?" Asked the gazelle.

"I- uh… I think she said innocent." Mumbled the nurse as he gently pushed the oxygen mask back onto Shenzi's muzzle.

"And are you sure?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" The okapi glanced down, and Judy saw Shenzi nod her head slightly, her eyes open slightly as she stared up at the ceiling. "Yes. She said innocent."

"Their position has been stated, they plead innocent." Announced the gazelle, before turning his hoof towards the prosecution. "Your response?"

The cheetah fluffed his suit, his teeth out in a grin.

"Yes. We ask them to prove it!" He said, turning over to look at them with a smirk. "Give us some proof!"

"E-evidence! Right- just a moment!" Said the tiger, dropping the papers in his paws again nervously. He leaned back down, frantically trying to pick them back up. "Ill be right with you! In a moment!"

Then, as the tiger continued to be wholly incompetent, the sound of a door slamming made everyone's heads turn. At one of the side doors to the courtroom, a zebra wearing glasses and a labcoat strode in, a scowl on his face. The zebra walked straight to the defendant's booth, and shoved the tiger aside, making the lawyer fall over onto his rump. The gazelle raised his eyebrow, looking over at the zebra.

"Who are you you?" He asked.

"I'll be their lawyer." Growled the Zebra, gesturing back at Simba and Shenzi as he scowled up at the gazelle.

"And I'll show you your _proof_."

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 **Yup, so there's that…. tell me what you thought!**


	12. Delusions Of A Dreamer

**And…. introducing….. Zootopia meets the Lion King.**

 **So far, I think we're doing pretty good!**

 **And now I'm going to take the time to reply to some guest reviews! Which I haven't really done before, but felt the need for now. If your name isn't mentioned you can just…. skip on over this.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

 **QUICK DISCLAIMER(again), I'm not a doctor, and don't know very much about medical topics anyways. I tried not to bullsh*t anything, but if anything with Shenzi or Simba's wounds doesn't line up with real life… oh well. Please don't hate me for it, but I can't imagine I'm too far off the mark on any of her wounds….**

 **Oh, and ANOTHER quick disclaimer, while I didn't write this on a plane this time, I still didn't look up exactly how a trial goes. I'm almost certainly going to bullsh*t that part, no matter how hard I try to make it match up with real life. I'm very sorry about that, but to be honest, I don't think most of you will care if I leave out certain boring procedures just because I didn't know they existed.**

 **At this point, I'm making things up for the trial. But it'll still function the same as a normal trial.**

 **so…. Here we go!**

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"Their…. lawyer?" Asked the gazelle, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Nodded the Zebra, still scowling up at the gazelle as the lawyer the zebra had shoved over a moment ago scrambled to get back up. The incompetent tiger looked more confused than ever as more papers fell from his paws.

"Then are you certified for the job, as required by law for a criminal case?" Asked the gazelle, nonplussed by the zebra's glare.

"Yes." He replied, taking out a letter from his coat pocket and tossing it to the gazelle. He caught it handily, immediately tearing the top off and examining the paper inside.

Judy looked on as the gazelle read the paper, and glanced to over at Nick. He looked just as confused as she felt, and a quick glance behind her revealed that the rest of the courtroom agreed. Each of them had upturned eyebrows, and looking at each other if they weren't intensely staring up at the podium.

"You graduated from the Pawford school of law…. this morning?" Asked the gazelle, looking back up from the paper from with his eyes narrowed.

"Yes." Nodded the zebra, not blinking an eye.

"Nonetheless…. your certificate of graduation is valid." He said, putting the letter aside. "Any opposed to adding Doctor Rosenberg as the second lawyer to the defense?"

Judy glanced around again. Despite the wave of quiet murmurs that passed over the room, no one raised their hand. She saw the cheetah lawyer of the Prosecution cast a glare at the zebra, but he didn't say anything. It was odd, she agreed… for the zebra to barge in here and pronounce himself another lawyer…. and it was even more odd that the zebra had become a lawyer only this morning. But apparently, nothing was illegal….

"Then the disruption is resolved. The Prosecution may restate their case, if they feel it is necessary." Said the gazelle, sitting back down. Of to their left, the cheetah shot up.

"Yes, we will. The lion and the hyena-" He raised a paw, pointing over at their podium as he looked up at the judge. "Are guilty, despite their pleas, of all the aforementioned crimes."

"And if the Defense will now restate their position?"

"Yes!" Said the Tiger, another paper slipping from his paw. "My clients are innocent, and are in no way responsible for-"

"Shut up." Said Rosenberg, throwing his hoof up in front of the tiger's face. The tiger blinked, completely silenced in surprise by the Zebra's audacity. Judy could practically feel the authoritative stare of the grizzly judge harden, as he looked down at the proceedings through narrowed eyes.

"I say that these animals are not innocent. Rather, they are guilty, for it was clear and obvious that they attacked the injured police officers a few nights ago." Said Rosenberg, his voice echoing about the courtroom with crystal clarity. Judy held her breath, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Had he become the lion and hyena's lawyer only to sink their ship?...

"However!" He continued, one hoof held behind his back. "I say they cannot be sentenced, because they are exempt from the laws of Zootopia."

A loud murmur erupted from the crowd, and the cameras zoomed in onto the zebra's scowling face. The cheetah stood up with a smirk as cries of disbelief reverberated throughout the room, all of which were directed at the zebra in the labcoat.

"You do, do you?!" Shouted the cheetah, his voice carrying above the dull roar of the crowd. He waited for them to quiet down slowly, waiting to hear his voice. "You say they are exempt from the very laws they are being charged for?!"

"Yes!" Retorted Rosenberg, turning to scowl at the cheetah.

"Very well." Grinned the cheetah. "Then I'll reiterate what I said earlier. I ask you to prove it!" Roseberg adjusted his lab coat, his eyes still narrowed at the cheetah.

"According to the constitution of this country, in the eighty third section concerning just and fair criminal sentencing, there lies an often overlooked and extremely redundant clause." Replied Rosenberg, not backing down in his glare. "It states the following, and I quote: 'only individuals belonging to the Kingdom Mammalia Erectus may be sentenced to any punishment handed down by the rule of law'".

And what does that have to do with anything here?" Sneered the cheetah.

"That this court is not only null and void by this law, but it is unconstitutional to charge these animals with any sort of crime!" He replied, pointing back at the muzzled animals behind him.

"...what?" Asked the cheetah, as the courtroom stood in deafening silence.

"These animals are not modern mammals. They are outside the law by nearly sixty thousand years." He replied succinctly.

The courtroom took one large, collective pause between themselves as they stared at the zebra.

And then, they erupted.

Shouts of disbelief at what had just been uttered became a cacophony in the room, each mammal pointing or glaring at the zebra. Judy looked over, hardly even to believe her own ears as she stared at the new lawyer. What…. on earth…. had he just said? Had he really said that the criminals were outside the law by…. sixty thousand years? What did that even mean?

The courtroom's shouts proceeded for another moment, before the grizzly at the head of the room pounded his gavel against the wood.

"Order!" He growled, his eyes flashing as he banged the gavel. "Order, all of you!"

His authoritative growls immediately came over the crowd, hushing the unabashed cries. The cheetah stood back up, a wicked sneer on his face as he looked over at the zebra.

"Your honor? If I may be allowed to respond?..." He asked, turning up to the judge.

"You may." Replied the judge, his voice still low with his growls.

"All right then! Now then, I think we all would just like to back up a few steps." He said, turning back at the zebra. Next to Judy, the lion shifted his weight, clearly confused. "Would you like to repeat what you just said?..."

"I would!" Replied the zebra, scowling. "These mammals are outside the law by nearly sixty thousand years."

"Oh, really?" Asked the cheetah, his tone mocking in his confidence. "Would you care to explain?"

"This lion and this hyena are not modern mammals. For reasons unknown to any of us, they have escaped the throes of evolution, and wound up here in our city. And due to their lack of evolution, our laws do not apply to them." He growled.

"Okay, okay…. and… how do you intend to prove such an outlandish claim?" Asked the cheetah, smirking. "What's your proof?"

"Let's start with the basics." Replied the Zebra. "My claim is that these mammals are biologically thousands of years old, living fossils. Let's test your knowledge of history. How many legs did lions and hyenas walk on in the prehistoric eras?"

"Four." Replied the cheetah instantly.

"And how many do these criminals stand on?"

"Also four."

"And how many do we stand on?"

"Two." He said, narrowing his eyes slightly. Both the zebra and the cheetah immediately turned to the gazelle, their gaze trained at the mediator. The gazelle paused for a moment, considering what had just been said.

"It is both clear and obvious that we stand on two legs. It is also clear and obvious that those animals here stand on four legs. And it is established scientific fact that the prehistoric mammals stood on four. The point stands." He replied.

"Perhaps, but that is conjecture." Said the cheetah, a moment later. "Walking on four legs proves absolutely nothing, and it most certainly does not prove that the fantastic walks among us!"

"Of course not." Replied the zebra, although a small smile graced his lips. "But it is a basis nonetheless."

"A basis for delusional morons." Snapped the cheetah.

"We'll see who's delusional!" Retorted Rosenberg. "In a moment…."

"Well then, let's see some real proof!" Shouted the Cheetah, his eyes narrowed.

"You'll get it!" He snapped back. "I would like to summon the doctors and nurses that treated both the lion and the hyena!" The gazelle stood up again, looking down at the zebra.

"From the hospital?" Asked the gazelle, speaking up.

"Yes. Everyone included in the treatment and surgery of the lion and the hyena." Nodded Rosenberg.

"All right then." Said the gazelle, with a nod. "Those involved with them at the hospital will be summoned by this court to testify…. this court will be in recess until they arrive."

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"This place…. stinks."

"Shut it, will you?" Snarled Scar, as he peeked around the corner.

"Why? There's no around…." Replied Banzai, grumbling underneath his breath.

"There very well might be!" Snapped the dark lion, as he drew back. Gazelle stood next to the hyena as he scowled, cursing quietly. Nala and Ed were beside her, waiting for Scar to check out the area in front of them.

They were in the outskirts of Zootopia, the very beginnings of the suburbs that surrounded the city. At the moment they sat at an empty home, having taken refuge in it as their first step into the massive city. Scar stood at the door, looking out at the sea of houses that lay before the, and the skyscrapers of the city center.

"There probably is someone around…." Said Gazelle, glancing down at Banzai. "We're on the edge of the suburbs, after all…."

"What is a suburb, anyways?" Asked Nala.

"It's like…. it's like a big group of caves that we built, and mammals of all kinds live in them." She said, careful to use terms they would understand. "Thousands of mammals live here…."

"All mammals we have to sneak through." Grumbled Scar, as he leaned out the door.

"We'll make it somehow." Shrugged Gazelle, her statement genuine.

"Ah, must we?" Muttered Scar, glancing back at them. Nala raised her paw and unsheathed her claws, shaking it at him threateningly with a glare. Scar rolled his eyes and turned back, gritting his teeth.

"Of course we will…."

"Yeah, we will." Nodded Gazelle. "It's just a matter of time."

"And not getting seen by a single mammal in this city of thousands." Added Nala, scowling. "If we're seen, we're screwed, and we can't rescue Simba."

"Speaking of that whole rescue business," Said Scar, as he turned back. "I think there's a few kinks we have to work out."

"Like what?" Asked Banzai, tiling his head as Ed giggled.

"Like…. even if we manage to get into the city, where are we even going?" He asked, still scowling as he looked up at Gazelle. "You're the expert…. where would Simba and Shenzi be held?"

Gazelle blinked for a moment, taking a second to pause and think. "Uh…. well….. they were arrested so…. they're probably being held in ZPD headquarters. They've got holding cells there while animals await trial…."

"And this ZPD, is it defended?" Asked Scar, tilting his head.

"Uh…. extremely." She said, with a little nervous chuckle.

"We'll have to resort to trickery then…. obviously, while we have a mammal of my intellect in this group, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find a solution…." He said, glaring at the other animals with a smirk. "Discounting Gazelle, of course. She's…. I'll say she's just barely not as smart as me."

"High praise, coming from him." Snorted Nala. "Anyways, what did you see out there Scar?"

"What Gazelle said we would see. A bunch of box caves everywhere in neat lines, and animals inside them. There aren't too many out and about, but anyone could glance outside the window and see us if we try to waltz down the street." He replied.

"So that's not really an option?" Said Nala, gritting her teeth.

"Not in the slightest." Replied Scar, still with his confident smirk.

"All right then…. does that _genius_ intellect of yours give you a solution?" Asked Nala, rolling her eyes.

"Well, no, but I'm working on it….." Replied Scar, narrowing his eyes at Nala. Banzai let out a growl.

"Well, does our guide have any good ideas?" He asked, looking up at Gazelle. Gazelle shrugged.

"I mean…. I don't really know how to sneak four large mammals through the city without being spotted…." She replied, with a frown. She actually had absolutely no idea how on earth they were going to manage it….

"Well that's just great." Grumbled Banzai, stamping his paw against the floor. "What are we going to do then? Sit around and let them do whatever they want to Shenzi?!"

"No, of of course not!" Said Nala, grimacing. "We'll figure out something…."

"Like what?" He demanded, scowling at the lions. "Tell me! Any ideas?!"

"Maybe if you helped us think instead of distracting us, we might have come up with something already!" Growled Scar, baring his teeth. "Your grumbling isn't helping at all!"

"Well, it's not like you've done anything!" Retorted Banzai, baring his teeth right back at Scar in anger.

"I've done more than you, you insolent, brainless lunatic-"

"Wait a moment!" Exclaimed Gazelle, her eyes brightening. The animals around her all paused in their arguing, looking up at the singer with varying degrees of interest.

"What?" Asked Nala, tilting her head.

"I- I have an idea!" She said, breaking out into a grin. "It's completely foolproof!"

"Well? What is it?" Asked Scar, raising an eyebrow in impatience.

"We could drive there!" She replied, grinning down at the animals around her. They all paused again, taking in what she had just said.

"Drive? You mean…. what you creatures do in those monsters that thunder across the black rock?" Said Scar, crinkling his nose.

"Yeah! We could all fit in a van, and I could drive us straight to the ZPD!" She nodded. "No one would be the wiser, we could get there without a hitch."

"Well…. that's…. very well…." Nodded Scar, frowning as he thought it over. "But…. a little risky."

"How so?" Asked Gazelle.

"With you in control of a monster we are all inside, you might find it all too easy to drive us to the blue furred mammals, the police, and hand us over." He growled. "And while you do seem to profess your sympathies to us, I can't see us taking such a risk."

"Well…" Gazelle scratched the back of her neck, trying to think. "You could sit next to me, and kill me at the first sign of trouble…. obviously, I wouldn't do anything stupid like that at that point…."

"Fair point." Conceded Scar. "So you'll have to endure us keeping an _incredibly_ close eye on you while you drove….. but, more importantly, how do you plan to get a monster in the first place?"

"I'll call!" She grinned. "We have these things called phones…. we can talk to other mammals no matter where they are. I could call one of my friends, and he could bring one here."

"...without seeing you guys, of course." She added, feeling their icy stares.

"I… I don't honestly care how you manage to talk to other mammals like that…" Grumbled Scar, clearly curious. "But if you do do it…. keep in mind, one wrong word, and it's your neck. And it would be a shame to kill you this far in the venture." He growled. Gazelle nodded.

"Don't worry, you can watch me do it. In fact… I'll do it now!" She said, turning around and walking to the landline still in the wall. Scar quickly trotted after her, still suspicious as she punched in the numbers, and the phone rang.

"Hello?" Came the voice through the receiver.

"Hey, Richard!" Grinned Gazelle, as the animals around her leaned in, trying to listen to her conversation. "It's me!"

"Gazelle! What- where the heck are you! We looked all over for you, we thought you disappeared- where are you!?"

"That doesn't matter, Richard." She chuckled. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Wait, hold on, I don't even know where you are or what you're doing….. and you want me to do you a favor?!"

"Well, what do I pay you for?" She asked.

"... what's the favor?" Came the voice, a moment later.

"I need a van." She replied immediately. "I need a van, and I need it soon. You can drive it over yourself, I need it at…" She leaned over to peek out the window and look at the mailbox. "68254, huckleberry lane. As soon as you can bring it."

"I, uh… I'll have it over in a moment." He said, before hanging up."

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"Disjointed organs still prove absolutely nothing!" Snarled the cheetah, as the nurse, Siri, sat back down from the podium.

"And yet, somehow, their organs and tissues lineup with stunning similarities with the how the history books predicted they would!" Retorted Roseberg, his eyes narrowed at the cheetah.

"It is still not enough!" Growled the cheetah, seething at the zebra with rage. "Mutations or surgeries could explain their biological differences…. Therefore, not placing them outside the law!"

"They are mammals from another age, can you not see it?" Thundered Rosenberg, his rage much more collected than the cheetah's was.

"You still are deluded, dragging this trial on for no reason! Their physical makeup cannot prove that they are the impossible age of sixty thousand years old!"

"And indeed it can't." Said the gazelle, looking over both the lawyers. "The proof of Doctor Rosenberg is insufficient."

"You want sufficiency? You want me to shove the truth into your muzzles!" Asked the zebra, glaring at the cheetah and gazelle.

"Sufficient legal evidence has not yet been presented." Replied the gazelle, unflinching.

"Fine then." Replied Rosenberg, adjusting his lab coat. "Then we'll bring in two fossils, one for the lion and the hyena. We will compare their DNA, with the DNA of recoveries that are undoubtedly from the prehistoric era. And if it's a match…"

"Then it would in fact prove your point." Nodded the gazelle.

"Fine. Will the court see to it that the tests are secure from tampering or doubt?" Asked Rosenberg.

"It will." Nodded the gazelle. "Now then, as the court will prepare the necessary items for the tests, we will go into a recess."

"Dismissed until further notice!"

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 **Oh my goodness this was so much to write in one night. So… if you see any major grammatical errors…. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just missed it in my short edits.**


	13. All Is Vanity

**And…. no author's note this time, I didn't bother to copy it over… so don't ask me why this is here.**

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"Is he gone yet?" Hissed Nala, as she crouched below the window. Gazelle glanced down at the animals up against the wall, and looked back outside where the van had been parked.

Richard, one of her helpers, had brought the van here just as she had asked. He had parked it outside of the house a few minutes ago, and now was standing outside of the van, looking around awkwardly. Of course, Scar was seething furiously about it, they couldn't let a single zootopian see them if they were going to pull this off.

"Uh…. not yet…." She sighed, crouching back down. "I don't think he's going to go away by himself…. I did call him here, after all."

"Well, un-call him, will you?" Asked Banzai, his muzzle contorted into his usual frown.

"I can't do that without him getting suspicious! I just ask him to go away and leave me a random van, what's that going to look like?"

"Well, I guess it would look a little weird…." Mumbled Nala.

"Who cares about that!" Said Scar, speaking up. He looked up at Gazelle, impatience written all across his face. "It would look suspicious, perhaps, but nothing more than eccentric. You have to go out there and tell him to leave." Gazelle looked back out at the window, at the badger standing outside. She didn't like lying to her employees… of course, she was technically a hostage, anyways… and she had promised to help Scar and the rest.

"Well, I mean…. all right…."

"And be careful." Added Scar. "Get him to leave, and make sure it's as casual as possible. If anyone goes looking for you, they'll find us as well. Oh, and one more thing."

"What?" She asked, flicking her ears.

"No funny business. That badger is within earshot, and it would be a shame if we had to put him down…."

"Don't worry." Chuckled Gazelle, waving him off. "I made you guys a promise, remember? I'll make sure he has no clue about what's going on."

"Good. Now then, if you wouldn't mind…." Scar raised his paw, gesturing towards the door.

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Nala looked back up through the window out at Gazelle as she walked out to the badger and the mechanical monster he stood next to. Scar had been lying, they weren't actually withing earshot of the animals, but Nala knew they had to make sure she wouldn't try anything. Of course, Gazelle had been pretty good so far, but you could never be too certain.

Banzai grunted in impatience as Nala kept watching through the window. Gazelle was now speaking to the badger, and the badger was making some sort of frantic paw gestures. Gazelle was still acting calm, and eventually she pointed out towards the black rock they called a road. A few more moments passed and Gazelle put her hooves together, asking him something.

Eventually the badger turned around and began to walk away. Gazelle stood in one spot as she watched him go, and a few more minutes passed silently. Finally, Gazelle turned back and walked up to their house with a little smile on her face.

"You can come out now." She said softly. "I had to give him a raise to make him just…. walk away like that, but he's gone, and there's no one else around…"

"Take another look." Said Scar, stepping up to the door. "Are you sure there is no one around to see us?" Gazelle nodded, and glanced around again for a few quick moments.

"No one I see." She replied. "I'll open the back of the van, and you four can hop in quickly, without being seen."

"Well, prepare it then!" Said Scar, waving his paw at the mechanical monster. Gazelle nodded, and trotted back to the back of the van. She opened two metal doors that swung out to reveal the innards of the beast, an empty space with plenty of room. She stood to the side, and gestured for them to hurry up.

Nala glanced at Scar, who nodded. Stepping out carefully, Scar glanced about, then bolted towards Gazelle and leaping into the metal beast. Gazelle grinned, and gestured at Nala for her turn.

"Hurry up, Nala." Grumbled Banzai, as he peeked out the side of the door. Rolling her eyes, Nala stepped out as well, and ran up to the van, before quickly scrabbling inside. Banzai came next, jumping up past the doors, and Ed came last, lagging a bit as he giggled to himself, but jumping up as well.

"Are you all set?" Asked Gazelle, stepping up past the swinging doors to smile at them.

"Sort of…." Shrugged Scar, looking harried as he examined the vehicle they'd just jumped into. "How do you control this metallic beast anyways?"

"Oh, you see those seats up there?" Grinned Gazelle, gesturing at the front of the monster. They all turned, looking at the leathery rocks that sat at the other side of the box. In front of what Gazelle called 'seats' there was a very bumpy surface, covered in knobs of some sort and a lot of different lights.

"Yes, what about them?" Asked Scar, as Nala looked back at their guide.

"Well, that's where I'll control it from. So you can watch me do it the entire time, and you'll be able to see exactly where we're going through those windows!" She answered.

"In this world, you call holes…. windows?" Asked Nala, glancing back at the front of the metal monster.

"Well, they aren't holes, per say." She chuckled. "But you can still see through them. But anyways, I'm going to close these doors, so don't panic! I'll be right in!"

Nala could hear Scar grumble something under his breath as the heavy doors shut in front of them, plunging the back of the van into darkness. A clicking was heard a moment later, and Nala felt a hint of trepidation shoot through her. If there was ever a time for Gazelle to betray them, it was now, when they were shut inside the mechanical monster with no clear way out.

But in the next moment, Nala let out a sigh of relief as a door opened up in the front, and Gazelle climbed into the van before sitting down on one of the seats.

"Are you all ready to go?" She asked, with her usual smile. Scar grunted, and padded up next to seat she was sitting on.

"Now, you know exactly where to take us, correct?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "The ZPD's headquarters…. I know exactly where it is."

"Good." He replied. "Nala, get up here!" He called. Flicking her ears, Nala trotted up next to Scar. Behind her, Banzai and Ed had already settled in, leaning up against the walls of their now closed cave.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Stay up here." He replied. "I want you to watch Gazelle…. I'm going to take a nap. If she does anything suspicious, you know what to do."

Beside them, Gazelle only smiled and shrugged. Nala glanced at her, then back at Scar.

"Got it." She replied. "I'll watch her."

"All right." Nodded Scar, letting out a sigh of annoyance before turning around and padding to the back of the van. Nala snorted but looked back at Gazelle as she reached out for the bumpy front of the car.

"So…. what are you doing?" Asked Nala, arching her eyebrows in interest as Gazelle turned a few nobs on the bumpy surface.

"Oh…. this is called a dashboard." Chuckled Gazelle, gesturing at the different knobs. "It's what I use to control the car…. you know, make it go where I want to go. I can make it turn using this…" She said, grabbing a wheel that protruded out at her. "And I can make it turn on using this!" She grabbed a shiny stick of some sort, and turned it. A low rumble suddenly erupted from the van, making Nala's hair stand on end.

She looked around in fright, trying to find the source of the rumbling. It sounded as if it was coming from straight in front of her, but as she searched the bumpy surface with her eyes wide, she didn't see anything shaking or rumbling.

"That's the engine." Explained Gazelle. "It makes that noise, it's what makes the car go."

"Why does it sound like a- like a mini earthquake?" Squeaked Nala, flicking her tail from side to side nervously.

"I don't really know, I'm not a mechanic." Chuckled Gazelle. "But is shaking, at least a little bit. That might be why. Anyways, you might want to hold on for this part."

Nala heard the engine get louder, and the van lurched forward. She tried to dig her claws into the metal, but the floor had no give, and she stumbled backwards.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed, as behind her growls of annoyance from the hyenas erupted.

"Sorry!" Gazelle said, as she turned the wheel in front of her. "Sorry, I'll try to keep things smooth…"

"Smooth! What's- we're moving?!" Exclaimed Nala, as she spread her legs out beneath her to balance. She gaped out at the windows in the front, and to her amazement, the surroundings were…. moving?! She stared out in amazement as the van rumbled underneath her, and she watched it move forward, and turn out onto the black rock with a bump.

The van rumbled even louder as the buildings on the outside went by even faster, leaving Nala nothing to do but stare out, unable to turn her head away. Was this what a cheetah felt like? The surroundings zipped by, the speed of which had been unimaginable to Nala-

"Are you all right?" Asked Gazelle, glancing back at Nala.

"W-what?" She asked, unable to move her gaze from out the window.

"Are you all right? I mean, if you're riding in a car for the first time, it's probably a little weird…." She replied, turning her face back to the road. Nala blinked, turning her head for a moment to glance at Gazelle.

"Wierd? How does this work?" She demanded, walking up to her seat and rearing up, placing her paws next to Gazelle.

"It's a…. it's quite complicated." She chuckled, not turning her head to look at Nala. "But everyone gets around, in cars like these."

"It's wierd." Whispered Nala, turning back to the window. "It's the wierdest thing I've ever seen."

"I'll bet." Nodded Gazelle, with a little smile. "Anyways, settle in!" She said, patting the seat beside Nala. She glanced down, and with another nod from Gazelle, she jumped up onto the seat. It was a little small, but she curled up, with her back legs and front paws hanging over the chair. She looked over at Gazelle, tilting her head.

"How long are we going to be in this van?..." She asked.

"An hour or so." She replied. "Traffic near the heart of Zootopia can be pretty nasty at times."

"Traffic?"

"Other cars on the road." She replied. "They can get in the way, and when they do, everyone else has to slow down…"

"Wierd." Mumbled Nala, arching her eyebrows as she tried to visualize hundred of these monsters backing up in a line.

"I guess it is. Of course, everything here is wierd if you've never seen it before." She chuckled. "I mean, if I went to your world, I'm sure I would be quite out of place…"

"Yeah… two legs is pretty rare where we come from." Replied Nala, glancing at the back of the van. Banzai and Ed were sitting next to each other, talking quietly. Scar had his eyes shut, clearly attempting to sleep.

"I mean, some monkeys do it….but that's it." Shrugged Nala.

"Other than that though, you aren't that different, mentally." Replied Gazelle. "You're very different physically, but you think like us, for the most part."

"Well, I guess we do think mostly the same…" Shrugged Nala. "But Scar's the smartest lion I've ever met…. unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" Asked Gazelle, as she turned the wheel and the car leaned to one side, turning onto a different road.

"Yeah." Grumbled Nala. "He's too smart for his own good- always plotting and scheming."

"You don't like him?" Asked Gazelle, glancing over at Nala. "I mean, he is usually grumpy…"

"It's not that he's grumpy, it's that he's…. extremely unfriendly." Replied Nala, rolling her eyes. "He used to be the king of our pride, you see. He succeeded the previous king. And the previous king was his brother."

"His brother died, and he became the king?" Asked Gazelle.

"Yeah." She sighed. "And he was a horrible king. He let the hyenas- yes, those hyenas," she nodded back at Banzai and Ed. "He let them and their kind eat too much of the Pridelands. He didn't care about his own subjects." She spat, crinkling her nose.

"He… was a bad king?" Asked Gazelle, turning and glancing back at Scar. The lion had his eyes closed, and was still. No indication that he had heard them…

"You bet." Grumbled Nala. "He let his own kingdom flounder underneath him. He might be smart, but once he has what he wants… he forgets about everything else."

"Oh." Mumbled Gazelle. "So…. he wanted to be king."

"Yeah." Nodded Nala.

"But if he wanted to be the king, why did he… forget about the other things?" She asked. "Like you said…"

"I don't know." Snorted Nala. "It was clear he reveled in the fact that he was the king…. it was the only thing he cared about, the only thing he ever talked about after his brother died…. reminding everyone that he was in fact, our king."

"You think he got so hung up on his position that he didn't care about the responsibilities for the position?" Asked Gazelle.

"Probably." She replied. "I mean, that's literally all he did…. just talk about being the king. He was obsessed with it."

"Why would he be obsessed with it, though?"

"I don't know. Maybe because he was the younger brother… and was automatically behind his brother in line for the throne. I guess it made him bitter, or something. Maybe he thought he could do a better job, and became obsessed with the idea that he could be a king, better than his brother. But if that's it, he failed spectacularly." Snorted Nala.

"I guess…." Shrugged, Gazelle, falling silent. She looked back at the road, and Nala set her head down on the seat. She glanced back up at Gazelle a few more times as she turned the wheel, guiding the vehicle around the roads.

The vehicle was silent as the sounds around them got louder. The strange structures that towered into the sky got taller, and the cars became more numerous. All around them, the roads were filled with the cars, and creatures lined the sides of the street.

Nala busied herself with staring out the window. The sheer number of creatures was an awe to see, a testimony to complexity of the world she was now in. Strange, annoying honking filled the air, and the patter of voices and shouts bombarded her ears. They kept moving through the city, the van lurching to a stop every time they encountered a crossing.

The hour passed quickly, the bombardment of her senses keeping Nala busy, when suddenly the van came to a stop in between two buildings, casting shadows down onto them.

"We're here!" She announced. Nala hopped off the seat and stretched, as Scar padded up next to her.

"Where's here?" He asked, rearing up onto the dashboard to look out through the window.

"We're in an alleyway, across from the ZPD." She replied. "I got us here, just like I said. See that large building?" She reached out with her hoof, pointing out the window. "That's probably where your friends are being held."

"Excellent." Sighed Scar, rolling his eyes. "Now just to get in there…. somehow."

"You have a plan?" Asked Banzai, trotting up next to them.

"Nope." He grunted. "I'll come up with something, now that we're here…. eventually, anyways."

"Right." Snorted Nala. "You get on that, it's MY turn for a nap." With that, Nala sat down beside the seat, setting her head in her paws.

It was strange to think about it…. the building on the other side of the street had Simba in it. They were much closer than Nala had imagined they could ever be, much closer than she thought they could go with the police of this world trying to catch them.

And yet, they weren't nearly as close as she had hoped they would be.

As Scar and Gazelle began talking, Nala fazed out, and tried to close her eyes. It would be good to get some rest for whatever their rescue mission was going to be… once Scar figured one out. Oh, it would be so good to see Simba again…. to see his face, and nuzzle him… to be together with the one lion she wanted to be with, in the midst of all the madness…

It would be nice to finally slow down. Ever since they had…. somehow magically appeared in this world, they'd hardly gotten rest. Always on their toes, always being surprised with new wonders of Zootopia, and the creatures inside it… and being chased by those very same creatures. It was tiresome, and it just made her want to lay down and sleep in Simba's arms….

At the very least, they were safe now.

The moment she finished thinking that very thought, the doors at the back of the van were thrown open in a thunderous boom. Everyone in the van immediately turned around, their eyes widened in surprise.

At the opening in the back, there stood a deer, holding a pistol in her hooves, pointing it straight at them. Behind her were several more mammals, all of them grinning wickedly with several more rifles in their paws. Every single gun was pointed directly at them, and it was clear they were ready to fire.

"Well." Smirked the deer, the first one to speak. "It appears Doctor Rosenberg's efforts at the trial are in vain…. we've found the rest of them."

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 **So… I do hope this chapter wasn't sub-par… tell me how it was, was it all right?...**


	14. Chapter 14

Uhm... to all those that are worried about this story... uh... don't worry! It will be completed eventually... you know, just later. I don't know when exactly, since I'm still busy, but I'll find the will and the time eventually.


	15. Impossible

**Hey, so you'll never guess what gave me the inspiration to finally push out a chapter after all these months. There are these guys who have a little podcast that reads fan-fiction, and for their forty-sixth episode, they read off a chapter of mine! Right from this story. Anyways, that was so cool to me, I felt like I had to get out another chapter.**

 **By the way, they're called** ** _Attack on Fiction,_** **and you can find them over on a site called Podbean. They're a really small group, so I'm sure they could use the followers! You know, if you like people discussing fanfiction. Which you might, if you're on this site...**

 **But anyways, enjoy!**

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Judy and Nick glanced at each other as the van came to a stop. The first part of the trial had ended that afternoon. The Zebra— Doctor Rosenberg— had left as soon as it was over, presumably to supervise the complicated operation that the judge had ordered. They had gone on for a while about how the operation was to go… a bunch of legal and technical jargon that had all flown right over Judy's head.

The best she could make of it was that the zebra wanted to prove something about the four legged mammals- the ones that they now had arrested, and were holding in the van they were in now. There had been a lot of talk about DNA, and fossils, and other comparisons between the organisms and distinctive factors…. All of which Judy didn't really understand, but it was clear enough that the zebra intended to try and… prove something extremely outlandish.

That the lion and the hyena they had arrested hadn't evolved an inch in the past six thousand years.

Now… it wasn't THAT weird. If Judy suspended her belief of what was rational…. the lion and the hyenas definitely _looked_ the part. They walked on four legs, something no living being did nowadays other than lizards. Their teeth were sharper and their claws were longer than any normal lion or hyena. Their bodies were sloped backwards, shaped for nothing other than walking on four legs. If it was some kind of surgery that made them that way, it was the most extensive and impossibly successful surgery she had ever seen. Even after staring at them all day, Judy could come to no other conclusion than… they definitely looked like Zootopia's ancestors had, thousands of years ago.

The only problem was…. it just wasn't possible! Every part of the world had already been explored. Even the most far flung islands had been catalogued by explorers hundreds of years ago with wind and sail. The deepest jungles had been penetrated my modern machinery. There was no place found anywhere that could possibly have secluded an entire race of mammals, separating them from the evolution literally every other mammalian species had undergone over the past millennia.

So then… what on earth were they, then?

That, Judy didn't know.

"All right, we're taking them back into the hospital!" A rhino— one of the officers—got up, the van creaking under his weight as he walked past the lion and the hyena. He unlocked the rear doors and swung them open, jumping out of the back and the getting out of the way for everyone else.

Judy got up as Siri and a few other nurses went to go and take care of the patients. Nick went to stand next to Judy and watch the nurses pull the lion back up to his feet, and then gently grab ahold of the cot that the hyena was lying on. They hopped off of the van after them, closing the doors behind them as soon as everyone was off.

"Hey… Judy," started Nick, as they watched Siri drag the lion off towards the hospital. "We should catch up to them. After all, we're supposed to guard them overnight, remember?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I remember," nodded Judy, as she let out a little sigh. During the trial, Bogo had radioed the both of them just to remind them that they were going to be guarding the lion at the hospital. He was chained, but they wanted to be completely sure when dealing with deranged criminals like him. The hyena, at least, was no trouble for certain. But the lion was mostly healthy, and so could possibly present some trouble….. "We've got our guns, so the only danger is…. doing it without falling asleep, I guess."

"Yeah, a night shift right after a day shift," snickered Nick, as he and Judy began to walk towards the hospital. "That's going to be tough, even if we're guarding a psychopath."

"No kidding. We had to stay awake all day today just to listen to lawyers yell at each other… now that, that really grinds on the soul," chuckled Judy, as she sent a little smile up at Nick. "And no opportunity for naps, either."

"Hey, speak for yourself. What do you think I did on my half hour bathroom break?" Grinned Nick, the smirk on his muzzle widening even more. Judy raised one of her eyebrows, unable to help the chuckle that escaped her lips.

"Nick! You didn't…" she said, punching him lightly on the shoulder. Nick flashed her a grin.

"I did, fluff. And let me tell you, even just that half hour is going to be the only thing that gets me through the night…" he replied, turning his head back in front of him. They padded up the hospital steps, jumping in through the door just as it was closing after the four legged lion. The hyena was taken to the elevator, but Siri and the lion took the stairs instead, and unfortunately, Nick and Judy had to follow.

Several flights of stairs later, they made it up to their floor. The hyena had beaten them up, with the nurses that carried her already inside her room, placing the fragile mammal on the bed. Siri and the lion followed them in, with Siri still carefully gripping the chain and the collar that she had the four legged lion on. There were two beds in the room, one with the hyena already on it, and one that was left for the lion.

"Okay Simba… hop up! Settle yourself in, you've got another long day in court tomorrow, so make sure to get some rest!" Smiled Siri, using her overly friendly voice as she patted Simba's bed with her paw. The lion let out an audible sigh through his muzzle, before leaning down, and then jumping up on top of the bed, immediately collapsing down awkwardly on the sheets. Humming to herself, Siri fastened Simba's chain to the bed, before turning around and walking over to Nick and Judy.

"Are you two the ones that will be guarding him?" She asked, still with a smile on her face.

"Yeah…. all night long." Replied Nick, flicking one of his ears.

"Great! Here's the thing. There's dinner and breakfast over in that little fridge…" Replied Siri, pointing back behind her with her thumb. "For you two, and Simba as well. Criminals have to eat too, you know. So I'm counting on you two to make sure to feed him! I'd do it, but I've got other things to get to… and frankly, no one else really wants to. So will you make sure to feed him?" She asked. Nick and Judy blinked.

"Feed him?" If by feeding him she meant taking off his muzzle and pushing a bowl in front of his face, then…. there was no trouble. And the hyena had an IV, so that was taken care of… "Ah… no, I guess it isn't any trouble. We'll take care of it." Said Judy, shrugging.

"Thank you… it really is a giant help. Now I've got to run, there's more than a few things I need to make up for!" said Siri, before turning around and making for the door. The other nurses spent a few more moments working on the hyena, before they eventually ascertained that she was stable, and then walked out after the lioness. The door shut, and then the room became quiet.

Judy couldn't help but set her paw on her gun as she turned back around.

Simba was already glaring at them, his eyes flashing silently as he stared over at Nick and Judy. He was muzzled, but that was probably going to change as soon as they fed him…. The hyena remained where she was, her head resting gently on one of the pillows and still breathing with the oxygen mask. Her eyes were shut, but it didn't look like she was sleeping. The both of them were silent.

"So," Nick spoke up, his voice almost hushed. The atmosphere of the room felt suspenseful… and even Nick felt it, keeping his voice down. "Do we want to quickly get the big guy fed?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, we probably should," nodded Judy, her eyes still locked on the lion… Simba. They would get him fed, and then they could just worry about watching him for the rest of the night. She padded over to the little fridge in the corner, kneeling down and opening it up. As Nick waited next to Simba's bed, Judy walked back over to him carrying synthetic meat, and a bowl of water. Simba's paws didn't look like they were made for holding a glass… they were flat. Like his hind paws. Not at all for grasping anything. As she made it up to the bed, she kept staring down at the paw, suddenly caught up in the weirdness of it. A lion's paw, but…. unnatural, somehow. It just looked wrong, and it bothered her.

"Uh… just push it on the bed and take his muzzle off… don't worry, I'll be watching you," said Nick, after a moment of silence. Judy blinked, realizing she had been silent, and then nodded her head.

"Yeah… well, here's the food," she said, glancing up at Simba. Their eyes met, his glare piercing her gaze. She blinked again, but set the food on the bed anyways. She pushed it up next to him, and then carefully reached up next to his muzzle. Simba's eyes stayed angry as they stared at one another, but he didn't pull away, or make any sudden movements.

"Now don't try anything…" growled Nick, as he looked over at the lion. "I've got a gun. Which means that if you even think about it, I'm blowing your head right off. Don't think I'll hesitate," he added, his voice hard. Simba glanced over at the fox, and then back at Judy. He hadn't move his head… but it was good enough. Judy reached up, and grabbed the muzzle that had clenched his jaws shut. Carefully undoing the locks, she slipped it off of him— then taking a quick step back.

Simba drew back, immediately letting out a yawn as he opened his mouth, and taking a large breath. He stayed quiet for a moment, testing his new freedom. While he was still chained securely to the bed, having his mouth clamped shut all day couldn't be comfortable.

The lion glanced over at Judy again, raising one of his eyebrows as he did so. Still, he remained quiet, not speaking up. He looked up and over at the other bed, where the hyena was still lying, bandages over her chest, and IV's stuck in her paws. He stared at the hyena for a moment, and then turned back down to where Judy had stuck the food. After a second, he leaned down, and began to eat.

Judy and Nick stayed silent as they watched him tear apart the synthetic meat with his teeth. He munched on it, periodically leaning over and taking a drink from the bowl Judy had provided. And Judy just kept staring, once again mystified by the lion. The way he sat… the way he held himself, even the way he ate all seemed wrong. It was almost otherworldly, strange, unnatural. And though it couldn't be possible— Judy found herself wondering what kind of explanation was responsible other than the whopper that Doctor Rosenberg offered.

Because… if they weren't from the past— which of COURSE, they just couldn't be!— then… what were they?

"…. What…. what are you?" she suddenly blurted out, unable to help herself as she broke the silence. The lion paused, and looked up.

"...What do you mean?" He asked, crinkling his nose. He looked back over at Nick and Judy, hostility still lingering in his gaze. Hostility towards the mammals that had shot at him, hurt him, and then humiliated him with the muzzle and chains. But within his eyes, there was also confusion, confusion about what was going on…. Confusion that Judy wasn't sure why he had. "I'm a lion," he finally said, flicking his tail. "... you aren't going to sting me again, are you? If I keep talking?" He added quickly, his eyes widening just a little bit.

"No, not unless you start acting up," said Judy, crossing her arms. "But you've got to tell me more about—"

"Then where's Nala?" He demanded, his eyes widening even more as he leaned in a little closer towards Nick and Judy. The hostile glare in his eyes melted away just a little, replaced just by concern. "Did you catch her too? You didn't shoot her like you did with Shenzi, did you?"

"Nala?" Asked Judy, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I… I don't know who Nala is, but we haven't shot any more of your friends… we haven't yet caught any more of them either…" she added, with a bit of regret. How the other four had managed to slip away, she didn't know. But they would catch them eventually, just like they had with Simba.

"Nala's my mate," Replied Simba, looking a little relieved. "So you haven't caught her yet? She's still safe, she's still out there, somewhere?"

"Well… I wouldn't call her safe. We'll catch her and the rest of your group soon enough," said Nick, letting out a little growl, keeping his paw firmly on his gun. Simba blinked, looking over at Nick. "And then they'll all pay…. just like you're doing now. No matter what that zebra lawyer tries."

"But you haven't caught her yet," said Simba, checking in again.

"No, we haven't. But don't worry, we'll catch them eventually," said Judy, nodding in agreement with Nick. "We don't quite know how long it'll take… but we'll catch them before all is said and done." Simba blinked again.

"Can I ask another question?" He asked, looking between Nick and Judy. He seemed a little relieved to hear that Nala hadn't been caught yet, but his face were still filled with confusion. Judy glanced over at her partner, and then shook her head.

"No. Because I've got a question for you, one you didn't answer before," said Judy, stepping up onto the bed. "Don't interrupt me this time, got it?" She said, crossing her arms again and sending the chained lion a stern glare. Simba blinked back at her, flicking his tail again.

"Okay…" he finally replied, licking his lips slowly. Judy paused for a moment, stepping up a little closer to the lion.

"What… what are you?" She asked again, meeting the lion's eyes. Simba made to open his mouth again to respond, but Judy quickly kept talking. "And don't just say you're a lion! You saw other lions today in that courtroom, they aren't at all like you. You walk on four legs, not two legs… you're even made to walk on four legs! You couldn't walk on two legs if you wanted to! Your paws are all wrong and your back is all screwed up. Every part of you is just wrong…. so… what are you?"

There was a sort of pause as Simba drew his head back, looking more confused than ever. He sat there for a moment, staring back at Judy as he apparently tried to think of something to say. Judy stared back at him, holding his gaze. An entire courtroom procedure had gone buy, and absolutely no one had thought to ask the defendants anything. Maybe that was a legal thing, but right now, all Judy cared to know was what on earth these mammals were. Because they couldn't be from the past— they just _couldn't_.

"I… I'm still a lion," he said, after a moment. "And she's still a hyena…" he added, pointing over at Shenzi. "But… I'm not one of your lions… and she isn't one of your hyenas. And… you know? I have absolutely no idea what that means to you."

"Huh? You've got to tell us more than just that!" Demanded Judy, both of her ears standing up straight above her head. "Okay, so you know you're different. Great! Now tell us, why are you so different?"

"I'm not from here!" He admitted, flicking one of his ears. "I'm just as confused as you are, apparently… look, I don't even know where 'here' is! I don't know how I got here, I don't know what any of you are, and I—"

"You aren't from here?" Asked Nick, stepping forward next to Judy with his eyes narrowed. "All right then, _buster_. Where are you from? Where are you from that you think killing and eating another mammal is okay?"

"The Pridelands." He Replied, blinking from confusion. "Actually, to be honest with you, I mostly eat bugs… but I've eaten meat that my dad caught before. Gazelles and zebras, mostly..." he added. Nick and Judy's eyes widened a little bit, freezing for just a moment as Simba spoke.

"You… you ate more mammals?" Asked Judy, her voice hushed. Simba paused, noticing the horrified looks in their eyes. He drew back a little, not wanting to insure the ire of the mammals holding the guns.

"Uh… well, yeah, but not mammals from here!" He said quickly, shaking his head. "Four legged ones! Not the animals here, the animals from where I live! They had four legs, we hunted them and ate them all the time…"

"You mean there's more of you?" Asked Judy, with one of her ears sagging down. "More four legged mammals? Where? Where even is that? What secret place is this that you're even allowed to… hunt other mammals?"

"The Pridelands," Replied Simba, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And what are these…. these Pridelands like?" Asked Judy, blinking. "What do they look like? Are they underground?"

"The Pridelands isn't hidden… it's huge," Replied Simba. "It's a big giant plain. There's Pride Rock, there's an entire desert next to it, a jungle across that… it isn't small, and all across it, there's nothing but four legged mammals like me. I've never seen anything like this world until just now…. I swear. I don't know how I got here, but I don't belong here…. I come from the Pridelands."

"But no place like that exists anywhere on the earth," said Judy, letting both of her ears sag down behind her head. The place that Simba described was completely impossible. The earth was entirely explored, mammals had penetrated every corner of the world, from explorers to colonizers and everything else, they knew what the earth held. And there was nowhere upon the surface of their blue marble that had any mammals who walked on four legs… much less any kind of barbaric civilization that the lion described.

"But it exists. I swear it does. Look at me! I'm proof that it exists, I swear!" Replied Simba, flicking his tail from side to side again. "I know it exists.. it's where I come from."

"But then…. where the hell is it?" Asked Nick, flicking one of his ears. Judy glanced up at the fox, then at Simba, her own eyes wide.

"Well…. I don't know," relented Simba, drawing back and glancing away.

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"Now no one move!" The doe at the front of the group shouted, raising both of her hooves and gesturing into the van. Nala's heart dropped like a stone as she stared back out of the van, her eyes widening.

Five or six different mammals stared right back at them. And in each of their paws, they held the long black barrels that issued fire— the same thunder guns that they had been shot at with by the police. They were all already quite familiar with the damage that even one of them could do, just a single shot could tear into their bodies. And now they were being faced with a half dozen of them, each being handled by a mammal with an eager smirk on their muzzle.

Not one of them moved, but Nala could feel the palpable despair that suddenly flowed through each of them. They had been found, and worse, they were trapped.

"Good… you understand that, at least," grinned the doe, with a devilish smirk on her face. She reached down and grabbed another gun, holding it up in her hooves as she pointed it at Nala's group. "Now listen up. Any of you resist— and I'll put a bullet through your chest. We only actually need your brains, so don't think that we're going to avoid hurting any of you. In fact, I might end up deciding that pain would be a great way to make sure you all cooperate! So don't move, got it?" She grinned, cocking the hammer back menacingly. "Not one of you are going to resist."

"Now hold on…" growled Scar, though he remained stock still, very aware of the danger the guns posed. And Nala thought that there was something dangerous about the way the doe at the front held herself, and the shark-like grin on her muzzle. Somehow, she didn't doubt that the doe wouldn't hesitate to shoot any of them. "Who exactly do you claim to be that you could force us to go anywhere?"

"So… you do talk," whispered the doe, her eyes glinting. "That's…. very interesting. I'm going to enjoy examining all of you… well, if you can understand me, you can definitely take orders, so all of you should be very aware of the consequences for resisting!" She added, stepping forward a little bit and raising her pistol. "None of you move. I'm glad you're all already here, tucked away nice and neat in a van…. it's gonna make transport SO much easier."

Before Scar could properly reply, huge buffalos got up into the car, the van creaking under their weight. Some smaller mammals also hopped up after them, brandishing shotguns and pistols. Banzai was the only one that backed away as the mammals reached down and grabbed them, and Nala let out a little squeak as a buffalo grabbed her by the neck, jamming a shotgun against her head and pushing her against the floor. Scar uttered more than a few curses, but even he didn't dare to offer any resistance with the guns so readily available to be used.

"Woah… hold on a moment," grunted a goat, as he spotted Gazelle standing in the back. The gazelle had slunk back a little into the shadows, her eyes wide and afraid. These mammals didn't look or sound like police to her… and she was too afraid of making any sudden movements to try to run.

The goat stepped forward, and grabbed Gazelle by her arm, a pistol in his other hoof. Before she could really complain, Gazelle was pulled up forward, past the cursing Scar. Nala watched the smirking doe glance up, looking just a little bit surprised to see Gazelle standing there.

"This one's on two legs," grunted the goat, gripping Gazelle's arm firmly. Gazelle gulped.

"You know…" the doe started, flicking one of her ears. "It HAD crossed my mind to wonder how exactly mammals without thumbs had managed to drive a car… much less competently. Well, darling, how exactly are you associated with these… other mammals?"

"I— I'm just helping them," sputtered Gazelle, sounding nervous. She had likely just become aware of the pistol that was being pushed into her back by the goat ,threateningly. "To find their way into the city…. who are you?"

"My name is Julianne. But more importantly, who are you?" Asked Julianne, waving her gun around casually. "I mean, dear, before you go whimpering on, just know that we're taking you too. You've already seen far too much… but anyways, what's your name?"

"Gazelle," she replied, swallowing audibly.

"Gazelle? Like the pop star? Oh, hey, what do you know? You even look a lot like her, too…" said the doe, licking her lips as she narrowed her eyes a little bit. Nala blinked. While they'd been walking, she'd done a little talking with Gazelle… apparently, she was extremely well known in the city. Almost to the point where every mammal knew her name, or had at least heard her sing through some kind of special device. She didn't know what it would mean for them if the doe recognized Gazelle…. but she couldn't imagine anything good.

"Uh… Yeah, well… it's really a funny coincidence…" Replied Gazelle, laughing nervously. "Don't I wish, right?"

"Yeah I guess it is.… well, darling, you'd better stay quiet, got it? I definitely don't have time to deal with a struggling dame like you. So no questions, and we won't hurt you!" Exclaimed Julianne, her smirk only widening. Gazelle flicked one of her ears, glancing down at the gun the doe held fearfully.

"Y—Yeah! I'll stay quiet," she managed, doing her best to form a shaky smile.

"Good! You'll be mostly fine, I'm sure. And I'm definitely going to be talking to you later about what you know about these other mammals…. What you might already know could be invaluable. And while you wait for that, Gerald here might even get to know you personally," she snickered, as she glanced over at the goat that was holding Gazelle where she was. "Now then, give me the keys, I know you drove this thing,"

Gazelle carefully reached into her pocket and tossed Julianne the keys to the van. The doe caught them in her hooves, and then padded around the other side of the van. The goat pulled Gazelle back, and then pulled both of the doors to the van shut. A moment later, Nala heard the car start, and then she felt it pull away.

The gun that had been jammed up against her skull hadn't gone away. It hurt a little bit, but at least it hadn't been used yet… she gulped a little, trying to ignore the cold metal being pressed up against her head.

She glanced around, as much as the paw wrapped around her neck would allow. Ed was off in a corner, his paws over his eyes and whimpering as a gruff looking ram held him down. Banzai was right next to him, grinding his teeth angrily, but not daring to try to break free. Just like Nala, he had a gun to his head too, dissuading them from trying to break away.

Gazelle let out a frightened whimper as the goat that was holding her pushed his gun harder into her back, before pulling her down onto her knees. His hooves stayed firmly wrapped around her arm, keeping her where she was. He let out a snicker as he stared down at the gazelle, his eyes glinting creepily. Gazelle glanced up at him, looking more than a little uncomfortable as she tried to keep from shivering in fear.

The goat didn't seem to do anything more… but the way that he was looking down at Gazelle was nothing short of creepy. Nala shivered a little. The look that the goat had reminded her exactly of how Scar had used to look at her… and that look had driven her to run right out of the Pridelands. She shivered again, glancing over at Scar.

To her surprise though, she didn't see the lion that she expected to see, the lion she had just thought of. Instead of a creepy smile, or an evil grin, or even a confident smirk, Scar had hatred shimmering in his eyes.

He was looking up at the goat that was smirking down at Gazelle. He wasn't moving, instead he seemed to be putting all of his energy into a deathly glare. It was concentrated right at the goat, with Scar's muzzle twisted into a horrible scowl as he stared up at Gazelle's captor. Nala blinked and pulled back a little bit, caught off guard by the force of the glare. She had seen him angry before... when she had refused his advances, he had been nothing but furious. But now… the anger shimmering in his eyes was almost palpable. A scorching fire…

Burning with _hate_.

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 **Whooo! There you all have it, a new chapter, finally after all these months. I hope it was good… I'm just afraid that it was a little awkward, or something. I don't know, I just feel like it wasn't of the greatest quality… just, tell me how it was.**

 **And… I know a lot of you probably didn't like having to wait like, six months for me to finally update. I've been working on my writing since, but I didn't continue on this mostly because I didn't have the motivation. The last two chapters I put out kinda felt like trash (which is part of the reason I'm really hoping this one turned out good) and so I just kinda tapered off from the story.**

 **But if you guys really do want me to keep doing this (at a faster pace, anyways) then nothing would encourage that more than some nice reviews. I mean, if this chapter really is trash, then I can't really ask you to leave nice reviews… but if the chapter is good, and you LIKE it, then nothing would bolster me to get to writing the next one quicker than a nice long review. You guys like reading this, and I love reading reviews. Believe me, I'm not holding this story hostage— which would be pretty despicable— I WILL continue it. But vnice (hopefully long) reviews make me feel good. That's just the long and the short of it. And if I feel good, I'm just more likely to work on it more, that's all. I mean, having a podcast (a small one, but still) read off a little bit of my story was what made me want to continue it again.**

 **Anyways, I don't know when I'll give you all the next chapter, but… hopefully soon. I really hope you enjoyed this! Have a nice day, and I'll see you all later! :)**


	16. Allies

**How's it going, guys? Good? Well. I hope so, cause this chapter definitely came out quicker than the last one… I hope you guys like it.**

 **Also, I'm going to keep chapters down to just one scene per chapter. The only thing keeping me writing this is a guilty obligation to finish what I started, so less work to do at a time will ensure chapters come out a bit quicker than…. you know, several months.**

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"Okay… now let me get this straight," said Judy, placing her paws on her hips as she and Nick stared back at Simba. The lion was sitting up in his own weird way, his hind legs folded beneath him, and his front legs straightened down so as to sit… mostly upright. It looked perfectly natural for the lion to do it, but Judy couldn't imagine managed that pose with any other body type except what the lion had. "You're saying…." she continued, "That you've never been here before… you've never seen a mammal that stand on two legs… and that you eat real, living mammals for food, because that's your only way to get any kind of dinner?"

"Well, yes," Replied Simba, flicking one of his ears. "I can't eat grass. That's what the zebras, and the gazelles, and the wildebeests eat. And then I, in turn, eat them. Well, actually, for most of my life I've eaten bugs… but I'm pretty much the only one that has ever done so. The rest of my pride ate meat… so did the hyenas, and the jackals, and the alligators! We all ate the meat of four legged creatures… and that's just how we survived. I've never seen anything like the likes of you until… just a few days ago,"

"Okay, well, how do explain… the fact that nowhere on this earth, does anything like that exist, anywhere?" Asked Judy, tiling her head to the side. "And… well, that nothing like that has existed for thousands of years?" Next to her, Nick flicked one of his ears, and glanced down at Judy. That had been exactly what he had been thinking too. The lion's blabbering was just… well, it had to be impossible!

"Uh… honestly… I can't," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "But that's mostly because I don't know how I got here, either… like I said, I haven't been in this world before."

"Okay then… how did you get here?" Asked Judy, crossing her arms. Simba paused for a moment, evidently trying to think.

"I just… woke up here, in the rain," he finally replied. "Along with the rest of my friends. I don't know what happened…. one moment, I was with Nala, trying to…"he paused again, and apparently thought better of what he was going to say. "Trying to… just get some work done. And then we all fainted or something… and me, Nala, Scar, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed all woke up here! Just like that."

"...just like that?"

"It sounds kinda dumb… but that's what happened," said Simba, glancing between Nick and Judy. "I don't know how to explain it, I'm only telling you what happened."

"That doesn't really make sense, though," Replied Judy, letting one of her ears sag down. The only trouble was, so far, the lion's version of events were their ONLY version of events. The Zebra— who Simba had also said that he had never seen before— was spouting something about these mammals being thousands of years old… but that just couldn't be possible.

"Yeah…. that doesn't really make sense at all," muttered Nick, flicking one of his ears as he stared back at Simba. "How did you get here? You can't just be in one place one second and then reappear someplace else in the next…"

"I just said… I don't know," Replied the lion, swishing his tail from side to side anxiously. "I don't even know what I need to tell you two to get you to believe me! It's just been the truth, I swear. Just look at me! I look nothing like you, or any of the other creatures that live in this place! Isn't that… isn't that some kind of proof?"

"Well, sort of," sighed Judy, as she let her other ear sag down behind her head. "But that's the strangest part. Your story lines up with the rest of you, we just can't fathom how on earth it could have possibly happened! And you not knowing how you got here doesn't help anything either,"

"Well… how about you ask her?" Asked Simba, sitting up a little bit and raising one of his paws to point out in front of him. Nick and Judy both stepped back, following Simba's pointing paw with their eyes to see him looking right at the other hyena… sitting on the other bed.

"Her?" Asked Nick, flicking one of his ears. Judy's heart sank a little bit… the hyena that she had shot. She was lying on the other bed, sound asleep, still connected to her breathing mask and all of the other wires. They looked especially awkward on her strange form, but she was clearly breathing, and clearly stable. Her eyes were shut, closed to the outside world in her sleep.

"Yeah… her. She's been asleep this entire time, she hasn't heard a thing! You can just take that shiny thing off of her muzzle, and then you can talk to her! She'll confirm everything I've been saying," said Simba, nodding his head. "I promise! I mean… I don't know how good of a conversationalist she'll be, but you know… I'm sure she can talk to you guys,"

"I don't know that it would even be safe," mumbled Judy, as she stepped up the bed where the hyena was sleeping. Her bandaged chest rose and fell… at least her lungs weren't damaged THAT badly, despite the bullets she had plugged into them…. "There's no doctors around… what if taking her off the breather hurts her?"

"Oh, pssh," Simba waved her off. "She's tough… She's the toughest hyena that I've ever seen. Wake her up, see how she's feeling! I'm sure she'll be able to talk, she isn't the type to give up just because you hit her with that thunder a few times…"

"Thunder?" Asked Nick, turning around and glancing back at Simba. The lion shrugged.

"Those metal sticks you have… the ones that summon fire and thunder."

"Uh… Yeah, those are a little more complicated than that. You see…" Nick's voice trailed off as he began to explain how guns worked. Judy, however, didn't turn around…her gaze stayed on the sleeping hyena in front of her. She wa silent as she watched the hyena, her eyes fixed on the many bandages wrapped across her chest. She had been the one that had given her all of those wounds. She had very nearly killed her. And now here she was, sleeping despite the pain.

"Simba?" She asked, turning around.

"What?" The lion glanced up from Nick, flicking one of his ears.

"What's her name?" Judy pointed back behind her at the hyena.

"Oh… it's Shenzi," blinked the lion, as Judy turned back around to face the hyena. "I think I mentioned that one before, though…. but in case you forgot, yeah, it's Shenzi. She's actually the Matriarch of her entire clan! That means that she's the leader. And I'm pretty sure you don't just get that position… you have to fight for it. Which means she fought through dozens of other hyenas just to get that position. Like I said, she's tough."

"Looks like it… she took a lot of bullets. And she's still breathing," muttered Nick, as he turned back around. Judy stood up on her tiptoes, before stretching over, and then gently grabbing the mask that Shenzi was breathing through.

"Let's just— if she gets in trouble, we can put the mask back on," mumbled Judy, before slowly slipping the mask off. All three of them watched anxiously as Shenzi began to cough, let out a wheezing gasp. Then she rolled over, her eyes fluttering open in the throes of even more coughs.

"Shenzi! Are you alright?" Asked Simba, concern flashing in his eyes. Judy watched anxiously as the hyena let out another cough, a shudder passing through her body. Judy leaned in, ready to jam the mask back onto the hyena. She didn't want to be responsible for injuring her twice!

Finally, Shenzi rolled over, another shudder passing through her. She coughed, before extending out a shaky paw, and placing it onto the bed. She did the same isn't her other paw, and slowly sat up with her legs shivering beneath her.

"What the…" she managed, wheezing out her words as she looked back out in front of her. She was greeted by Nick, Judy, and Simba, all of who, were watching her with wide eyes. "Who took the…."

"The oxygen?" Asked Judy, stepping up and holding the mask for her to see. "Do you need it back? It's right here if you need it!"

"No! Get that… get that away from me," managed Shenzi, before letting out another cough. Her legs nearly collapsed from beneath her, but she remained sitting up. "I don't… I don't need that stupid… thing's help! I can do this… just fine… on my own…"

"Shenzi, you look weak," said Simba, a hint of concern shimmering in his voice as he stated the obvious. "Are you sure you don't need that mask thingy? If it hurts too much, all you have to do is ask for it back."

"You wanna know what…. hurts?" Wheezed Shenzi, bring her head up to glare at the other three mammals. They all stared right back, waiting for her to continue. "Looking at you all hurts! You know… cause you're all so… fucking ugly! Hah!" She managed, letting out a painful, hacking cough. Her legs shook for a moment, before collapsing from beneath her, and she plopped back down onto the bed, still wheezing.

"Uh.. are you sure you don't need this?" Asked, doing her best to push her guilt aside as she raised up the oxygen mask. She didn't want to hurt her twice…

"No! No, keep that… away. I don't like it," snarled Shenzi, shooting the rabbit a glare as best as she could "I don't care for it… I can do just fine… on my own. Now why did you all have to wake me up, anyways?"

"We wanted to ask you a question," supplied Nick, as he stepped forward a little closer to the bed. Shenzi glanced back at him, her eyes glowering back at the red fox. Nick continued. "Your lion friend has been telling us a lot of things… but we aren't really sure if they're true. If, however, you can confirm them, well… it'll be helpful. You weren't awake to listen to what he said, so if you repeat the same things, that'll go a long way to helping us figure out the truth,"

"Pff. Lions always lie," Growled Shenzi, a scowl forming on her muzzle. "But whatever… hit me… with whatever crap he spewed from his mouth…"

"Where do you come from?" Asked Judy, without a pause. "Tell us about your home. Where was it? What was it like?"

"My home.. is a place called the Pridelands. Don't listen to what he said, lions don't belong there! Hyenas—" she paused, letting out another cough. A shiver ran through her, before she managed to steady herself again. "Hyenas have... just the same right to the Pridelands as lions do…

"And what were the other animals like? How did you live?" asked Judy, her eyes widening just a little bit.

"Well, for starters, we all had four legs- not two." Managed Shenzi, flicking her tail from side to side. "I don't know what any of you are doing here, running…. around on the legs… but it's the first I've seen of it. Where the hell do any of you get your meat, anyways, if…. if you hunt us because he had lunch?"

"So you DO eat other mammals? And it's normal from where you're from?" Asked Judy, her eyes widening just a little more with morbid fascination. It was just like the History books had always said. The distant past had been filled with mammals that coexisted with each other, and every mammal had played some kind of role… the grass eaters ate grass, and the meat eaters ate meat, all because they had to. Because they had no other means of collecting food.

"How else are you supposed to eat?" Snarled Shenzi, before couching again. She reached up with her paws and grasped her head, struggling to steady herself as a series of coughs tore their way through her body. A few moments passed, and then, they subsided.

"Well, there, you see?" Asked Simna, leaning forward a little bit from his bed. "It isn't our fault, it isn't our fault at all! We didn't know what on earth we were supposed to do in this new world… we made a mistake, and we didn't even know we were doing it! Can you please let us go?"

"We can't just let you go…" sighed Judy, as she glanced back at the lion behind her. The hyena's words made her feel even more confused. Could it really be possible that these mammals were from the past? The evidence seemed to point in that direction, but it was all so confusing and impossible, that Judy didn't know how to make heads or tails out of it.

"But I have to see Nala again," pleaded Simba, leaning down a little. "I can't be separated from her forever!"

"Look, look, we'll stick by you," said Judy, as she looked between the lion and the hyena. "I… I still can't really imagine that you both are telling the truth… but we'll stick by you. We'll help you figure out what to do… but unless something changes, you have to stand trial. You're in the system… we can't just take you out if it."

"Please?" Begged Simba, trying one last time as he stared down at the bunny.

"We can't. But… just, just don't worry about it," sighed the little bunny. "We'll figure something out."


End file.
